


Zakaria: Devils x Details

by Anime_PJ



Series: The Zakaria Chronicles [1]
Category: Highschool DxD (Anime), Junji Ito
Genre: Alcoholism, Fem!Vali Lucifer, Harems, Multi, Multiverse, OC from another universe, Older Man/Younger Woman, Sirzechs and Grayfia Are Not Married
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:09:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 60,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26250955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anime_PJ/pseuds/Anime_PJ
Summary: Not even the end of the world can finish off this guy. Zakaria Holland was ready to die as his world was consumed by the apocalypse, but by some twist in fate, he finds himself flung into another world. One where the supernatural isn't always out to kill him. But a life such as his leaves scars that run deep. Scars he will have to cope with for much longer now that he's a Devil.
Relationships: Asia Argento/Hyoudou Issei, Grayfia Lucifuge/Original Male Character(s), Himejima Akeno/Original Male Character(s), Hyoudou Issei/Elmenhilde Karnstein, Hyoudou Issei/Ingvild Leviathan, Hyoudou Issei/Le Fay Pendragon, Hyoudou Issei/Ophis, Hyoudou Issei/Ravel Phenex, Hyoudou Issei/Shidou Irina, Hyoudou Issei/Toujou Koneko, Kalawarner (Highschool DxD)/Original Male Character(s), Katarea Leviathan/Original Male Character(s), Kuroka (Highschool DxD)/Original Male Character(s), Mittelt/Hyoudou Issei, Raynare (Highschool DxD)/Original Male Character(s), Rias Gremory/Hyoudou Issei, Rossweisse/Original Male Character(s), Serafall Leviathan/Original Male Character(s), Vali Lucifer/Original Male Character(s), Venelana Gremory/Original Male Character(s), Xenovia Quarta/Original Male Character(s), Yasaka (Highschool DxD)/Original Male Character(s)
Series: The Zakaria Chronicles [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1907035
Comments: 7
Kudos: 30





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITING NOTICE: I have edited this story to match up with the official English release of the High School DxD light novel. If you do not have a copy of the first volume, which has been published by Yen Press, I strongly urge you to do so. Please support the official release!

Zakaria could feel the blood pissing out of his wounds as he ran through the woods.

It was pointless trying to escape, he knew. This was it, the big one, the apocalypse, the end of the fucking world. Sitting down and waiting for oblivion like those two he left behind had a certain appeal to it, he could admit, but he had learned not too long ago that just sitting there and letting it happen wasn't him. Even though just sitting and waiting would give him what he wanted, he was going to go out as he came in, kicking and screaming.

Not even Armageddon would stop him from going out fighting.

What a fight it was. He was still bleeding heavily from what those monsters in that facility had done to him, but he was proud in the knowledge that he had given just as much back to them with his trusty machete, which sat holstered in his belt. He could feel his body growing lighter as more and more of himself leaked out of it. This was hardly the first time he'd been a bloody mess, but it was the first time he'd done this much running in this condition.

He chanced a glance behind him.

The cabin was gone. A giant arm was sticking out of the ground, enormous and terrible. The hand alone was big enough that the entire cabin would have fit in it with no problem. The trees were falling all around him as he continued running, running, running.

The ground shook, which it had been for several minutes now, but this was different. This was stronger. He felt the ground jut upwards beneath him with such force that he launched into the air. _This is it,_ he thought. Now that he'd lost his footing, it didn't matter where he landed; he knew he wouldn't have the strength to get up again. That one shake of the ground had killed him.

Then he wasn't in the forest anymore.

His mind, ever alert, looked to where he just was, and he could _see_ the forest through whatever he'd just flown through. It was like a … a _gap_ of some sort. A rip. And it was closing. He could see his world crumbling, just coming apart at the seams, and the view was shrinking more by the second. He looked around and immediately regretted it. There was a _thing_ in here, something that seemed vaguely spider-like in appearance, but his mind refused to identify it any further. It refused to look away from that one small part he caught sight of and give him the full picture. Whatever this creature was, his mind was refusing to let him take in the whole thing.

Then he landed on concrete.

Above him, the rip closed. As it did, he heard an angered screech that vibrated through every bone in his body and shook his brain inside his skull.

Wherever he had landed, it was no longer the middle of the night. The sky above was a deep orange, and the streetlights were coming on as the sun set. Yes, he was in the street, that much he could tell. Civilisation. Someone to find his body in the morning after he inevitably bleeds to death. He turned his head, something which took a lot more strength than it ordinarily would have, to see if he could find some clue as to where he'd landed. In one of the many shops that lined the street, he could see a sign written in …

 _Kanji?_ he thought as he stared at it. _Am I in Japan?_

The change in location was excellent. At the very least, it should take longer for this place to be ripped apart. At least, assuming those things beneath the Earth's surface were only in that one location. He doubted anyone would be that lucky. Rather than focusing on the inevitable destruction of the world, he decided to think of his current circumstances. This blood loss was a real pain in the ass. All that talk of not laying down and dying and here he was, doing just that because there wasn't enough blood in his body to do much else at this point. Yet having death so close eased him in a way nothing had in a while.

After all, death had been his end goal for quite some time. He'd even _tried_ to die before, multiple times, but he had learned the hard way that just killing himself was a waste of life.

This thought sent a jolt of motivation through him. Not enough to make him move, but enough to make him know that he should at least _try_.

That jolt was met by another bump when he felt … _something_ appear around the area he was in.

He sat bolt upright, not even feeling the damage he was doing to his own body. He'd lost too much blood to feel pain by now. Whatever _that_ was, it was nothing like he'd ever felt before. There was power behind that he didn't recognise. Different even than the abominations he had just been fleeing. If he had to put a word to it, he supposed that word would be "energy." It was like a massive dome of energy had appeared around the area.

 _This isn't the centre,_ he thought, reaching out with his mind to find the edges. _… Yes, that's it. That's the centre._

He was standing up before he even knew it. Motivation had come, and he was on the move once again. He moved towards the centre of this dome. He didn't understand why he was doing it, but he rarely knew _why_ he did these things. After so many years of hellish encounter after hellish encounter, some things were just ingrained into his behaviour like instincts. Only while other creatures' instincts prompted them to flee from danger, his prompted him to go towards it.

But what the hell, right? It wouldn't be the first time he threw himself into a dangerous situation he probably wouldn't get out of alive. It wasn't even the first time he'd done that _today_.

His senses led him to a park. There were a fair number of trees around the pathway, which brought to mind a few past experiences and set him even more on edge than he already was. What remained of the day's sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the trees to create an eerie glowing effect. He limped on until he came to a clearing with a fountain.

There were two others there, one human and one … something else.

The human was a teenager, from the look of him. Average height, short, spiky, brown hair, light, brown eyes. He looked Japanese, which Zakaria thought odd since those hair and eye colours weren't exactly standard in Japan, at least not to his knowledge. The teen was wearing an open grey jacket with black buttons over a black shirt with white and red stripes accenting the collar, dark grey trousers, and black shoes. He was also currently on his ass from shock, staring at the clear non-human in front of him.

The non-human was a beautiful young woman whose only signs of _being_ non-human were the pair of black, feathered wings protruding from her back and the spear she was holding which appeared to be composed entirely of light. She had long, silky, black hair down to her hips, violet eyes, and fair skin. But it was what she was wearing that _really_ stood out. The whole load of _nothing_ she had on looked like a bunch of black, strap-like objects that looked like they might have been leather around and under her breasts, a thong-like piece held around her hips by three thin straps, gloves that ran right up her arms with small lengths of chains hanging from them, shoulder guard-like objects on her shoulders with three large spikes sprouting from her right shoulder, and black thigh-high heel boots.

If there were enough blood left in Zakaria to achieve an effect, all of it would probably be flowing _down_ right about now. His libido may not be what it once was, but his body still had the reactions of a heterosexual male when seeing something like this. Unfortunately, there wasn't much blood to go to his _brain_ , either, so the first thing he did was a comment on this clearly dangerous woman's appearance.

"What the fuck are you wearing?" he asked her. Both she and the teen turned to face him, only just noticing his presence. "Or I guess a better question would be: what _aren't_ you wearing? The apocalypse is no reason to risk giving yourself a cold, lady."

"Wha—? Who the hell are _you_?" she asked. Her voice was deep, alluring, and currently annoyed-sounding. "I didn't detect anyone else around here!"

" _T-Tasukete_!" the teen shouted to him in Japanese. " _Nani ga okotte iru no ka wakaranai, anata wa watashi o tasukenakereba naranai_!"

"Sorry, kid, but I don't speak Japanese," Zakaria said offhandedly, trying to ignore the way his body was swaying, determined to crash to the ground before he could take so much as a single step more. He turned his attention to the lady. "So what's up with you, lady? Big black wings, a spear so bright it'd probably blind me if I looked directly at it, an outfit that doesn't so much scream 'battle-hardened warrior woman' as it does 'try to pull this one off, cosplayers.' Never seen one like you before."

The woman glared at him for a few moments. "Never mind," she said, seemingly having decided something. "You look just about dead, anyway, so at least I won't have to worry about wiping your mind or killing you myself. I can just kill this pathetic little idiot and be done with it." She turned her attention back to the teen, who looked up at her with fear in his eyes. She pulled back her arm, prepared to launch the spear, and …

_SCHLICK!_

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!_ "

… promptly started screaming, dispelling the spear in pain, as Zakaria's machete found a new home in the exposed skin on her side. She clutched at the blade as blood dribbled out of her from around it, and she pulled. It didn't take much effort to get out. When it came out, she immediately dropped it in favour of holding a hand to her side, which was now pouring blood out. She gritted her teeth and glared at Zakaria, who had used up what little strength he had left to throw that machete and had missed. He had been _trying_ to get her in the neck.

Nevertheless, he had hit her and done damage. Seeing her glare, he decided to do something sure to turn her attention to him if that injury hadn't already: he grinned at her.

"I can't believe a filthy fucking _human_ just did this to _me_ ," she hissed out in pure malice. "You wanna die so fucking badly? _Fine!_ The idiot can wait. You've just pissed me off _far_ more than the boring day I've had up to this point." Another spear of light formed in her free hand. "Say goodbye to your worthless little life, asshole!"

 _Can't come soon enough,_ Zakaria found himself thinking. As she pulled her arm back to aim her throw, he closed his eyes. _Mom, Dad, Beth, Nancy, everyone … I'll see you soon._

_SCHLICK!_

Death couldn't come soon enough for Zakaria, but he had never wanted it to be like _this_. As the spear of light entered his chest, he was surprised to find that he felt absolutely _nothing_. The other wounds he had sustained this evening all ached as they should have, but that spear pierced his chest, went right through his body, and stuck out of the other side, and he felt absolutely _nothing_. The spear quickly vanished, leaving him to bleed profusely from the hole it left, and he still felt no pain whatsoever.

Even through the haze of blood loss, he was lucid enough to hear what the woman said next. "All right, now for y—"

The feeling, that _dome_ around the area, vanished as she spoke. No … it was more accurate to say it _shattered_. Something had broken through it. Zakaria thought he knew what. _Ah, and the end of the world has caught up with me. Couldn't let me die without one final reminder that the Earth is fucked._

"Shit!" the woman cursed indignantly. "No, no, no! This wasn't supposed to happen like this! Fucking _damn it_!" Though his eyes were closed, Zakaria could feel her eyes burning into him. "This is all _your_ fault, you fucking asshat! Rot in Hell, you interfering shitbag!" She paused, weighing her options, then growled as she reached a conclusion she didn't like. " _Damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit_!" she yelled in rage.

The sound of flapping wings starting and then getting quieter and quieter indicated to Zakaria that she had left. Evidently, she'd failed to kill the teen in time.

 _One last good deed before I kick the bucket,_ Zakaria thought as he felt himself drifting away.

The last thing he heard was the teen he'd saved saying, " _Senpai_ …?"

* * *

Waking up after that was an unpleasant surprise. _Why …?_ he thought, anguished. _Why won't you just let me, fucking,_ die _!?_

The pain was gone. That was _something_ , at least.

Zakaria opened his eyes and slowly sat up. For the briefest of moments, he thought he might have been in Hell. He was on a couch in the middle of a room which was covered in demonic-looking symbols, and the most prominent of which was a huge one engraved on the floor in the centre of the room. He was on one of two couches on either side of a coffee table, at the end of which sat an armchair. The room was lit by candlelight. As he sat up, the blanket that had been covering him fell away, and cold air hit his bare skin. That was when he realised he was naked.

Zakaria was a man of 24 who looked far older than he really was, mostly due to living a life with far more stress than the average person, with medium-brown skin, short, curly, black hair, and somewhat large, grey eyes that had been dulled over the years. He was tall and quite muscular, though his build was relatively average. There were scars on every inch of his body, a few of which he had put there himself. Those were mainly on his wrists, but a few had been formed when he'd thrown himself off of things. One particularly nasty one on his chest had even been necessary for his survival.

"Ah, so you're awake," said a woman's voice.

Quick as a flash, Zakaria was on his feet. He raised his hand in an instinctive gesture and his machete, which was on the other side of the room atop a pile of new clothes, flew into his hand like it was magnetised. He held it up in a combat-ready stance that made it clear he was ready to defend himself if necessary.

The young woman tensed up for all of about half a second before relaxing again and smiling at him. "So _that's_ what Rias sensed in you," she commented. "The boy you saved said you moved too fast for him to see, but I'm starting to think you didn't move at all to make that throw. _Ufufu_."

Zakaria took a moment to observe the young woman. She was in her late teens, probably around 18 years of age, and she was _gorgeous_. Her exceptionally long, black hair was tied in a long ponytail, reaching down to her legs with two strands sticking out from the top and sloping backwards, with an orange ribbon keeping it in place, and she had violet eyes. Her body was incredibly voluptuous, which Zakaria could tell even through her clothes, which appeared to be a school uniform. She was wearing a white button-down shirt which looked like it was liable to break open at the slightest heave of her ample chest with a black ribbon tied around the collar, a black shoulder-cape with white highlights around the edges and a matching corset around her waist, a red skirt with white lines highlighting it at the bottom, and a pair of brown shoes over a pair of black, calf-length socks.

"Where the hell am I?" Zakaria asked her in a level tone.

"Akeno?" came another woman's voice as a door opened, and somebody joined them. "Is our new friend awake?" As she turned to face him, her eyes scanned the machete in his hand for the briefest of moments before a kind smile overtook her face. "Now, now, there's no need to be worried."

"I'll judge that when I know what's going on here," he said, eyeing the new arrival.

She was wearing the same uniform as the other one, and it hugged her _almost_ as tightly, but not quite, and she had short white socks, but those were the only real differences. This new girl was still a beauty, with pale skin, blue-green eyes, and long, beautiful, crimson hair that reached down to her thighs with a single hair strand sticking out from the top and loose bangs covering her forehead while side-bangs framed her pretty face. As mentioned, she had quite the buxom figure, though not quite as shapely as her friend there.

A few years ago, being faced with these two might have made Zakaria blush, but his libido wasn't what it used to be.

"Then ask your questions," the redhead said calmly. "We'll answer them as well as we can."

"Where am I?" he asked again.

"You're in the clubroom of the Occult Research Club," the redhead explained. "It's a club at Kuou Academy."

"And who are you two?"

"My name is Rias Gremory. I'm the president of the Occult Research Club."

"And my name is Akeno Himejima," said the other one, bowing politely. "Vice-president. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Might we get your name before we continue?" Rias asked.

"… Zakaria. Zakaria Holland," he introduced himself. "What happened to me?"

"You were already quite wounded before the fallen angel impaled you with her spear of light," Rias said. "The spear probably would have finished you off, anyway, but you looked like you were running on mostly fumes. Gave us quite a struggle with the clean-up operation, too, might I add. You bled all the way from the street to the middle of the park. Ordinarily, we'd let the fallen angels go about their business as long as it didn't directly affect us, but we detected a strange and powerful energy signature within the area where she set up her barrier. We couldn't afford not to investigate."

 _That'll be the portal,_ Zakaria thought, the pieces falling together a little bit. "I fell through something," he admitted. "It was like a rip or a tear; I don't know how else to explain it … It led into some sort of bizarro place, all black except for these little rips in the world. It took me from some woods in the middle of Vancouver to that street just by the park." He shook his head. "How are we even here right now? The world should be ending."

The two of them looked at him, gone out. "The world is ending?" Akeno was the one to ask.

"There were these things. The scientists called them the Ancient Ones. They were being kept happy by this fucking ritual thing where these kids I was with had to die, but they failed, and the Ancient Ones got up. They were ripping the world apart around me when I fell through that weird rip. What happened?"

Rias hummed. "Seems like our readings were correct. The energy near where you came in, it felt like some sort of portal, but it wasn't like any I'd ever seen before. It was far too powerful. From the way you're describing it, I'd say …" She hesitated here as if she couldn't quite believe she was about to say this. "… I'd say you fell through a portal between dimensions. That … isn't something I've ever heard of before. Whatever these 'Ancient Ones' were doing, it must have been ripping your world to shreds."

He nodded along with what she was saying. It meant something about his life that this wasn't the weirdest idea he'd ever heard. "So not even the collapse of my entire universe can finish me off … Ain't that a bitch?" He chuckled bitterly. "How am I alive, by the way? I'm pretty sure you said that spear thing should have killed me."

"It _did_ kill you, Zakaria," she informed him. "You were just slipping away as we got there. I brought you back … as a demon."

"… A demon?"

"Yes, a demon."

Zakaria went quiet, slowly lowering his machete. There was a change to the girls' demeanours as they saw that the tension had been diffused … but now it was replaced with an entirely different one. He wasn't saying a word. He put his machete down on the coffee table and sat on the couch in complete silence.

"… _snrk_ …" the tiniest of snorts escaped him. " _Heeheehee_ …" It got louder and louder by the second. " _Hahahahaha … Hahahahahahahaha!_ " He couldn't hold it in; he just couldn't stop laughing. _All this time, all these near-death experiences, so many years waiting to see the end of this shitshow finally… and now I'm a fucking demon._ This wasn't genuine laughter. This was hysterical. " _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!_ "

The two girls looked at one another with concern etched across their faces. Rias gave Akeno a nod, and Akeno walked over to Zakaria. She placed her fingers against his forehead …

" _HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA—_ "

… and he fell backwards onto the couch, fast asleep.

* * *

When Zakaria woke up again, it was much less of a shock. He also felt genuinely good for the first time in quite a while. Whatever Akeno had done to him, it wasn't merely to render him unconscious, but to truly put him to sleep. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept well – habitually taking dream suppressants for several years would do that to a guy. Dreamless nights of sleep were awful things, even if you never remembered your dreams when you had them. Part of you still _knew_ you had them, and their absence was felt somewhere in your mind that you couldn't find or comfort.

He shook such morbid thoughts away and sat up.

 _I_ thought _this felt roomier than before,_ he thought as he looked down at the double bed he was lying on. The room he was in was significantly more regular than the clubroom he had been in before. It was very spartan, which was the way he liked things: just a bed, a wardrobe, a chest of drawers, and a bedside table. The walls were coloured pretty blandly in white. On the bedside table, he saw his machete placed atop a pile of fresh clothes. The blade had been cleaned to a shine it probably hadn't had since before he got it, and thinking about it, probably a good amount of time before the _previous_ owner had it in _their_ possession. He could only assume the ones he had arrived in had been thrown away. All those rips and all the blood staining them had probably damaged them beyond repair. Not that he held any particular attachment to them. As long as he had his machete, he was golden.

Well, not _golden_ , but as close to it as he was capable.

As he lifted the quilt off of himself and moved to climb out of bed, he ran his fingers along the large scar on his chest. That was his reminder of how much his life was worth. Death couldn't come soon enough, and he would accept it with open arms when it was his time, but he would no longer actively seek it. He would not remain idle while his life was in peril.

He stood up and got dressed. The clothes were pretty bland, too. Just a white button-down shirt, a pair of black trousers with a matching belt, and a pair of black shoes. Plus socks and boxer shorts. Bland though they may have been, the material felt nice. He wondered how much these simple garments had cost.

Then he left the bedroom, moving cautiously through what he saw was an apartment. Not that caution was doing very much for him. There was somebody else in there, and the central area of the apartment connected to all the rooms – there were three, most likely two bedrooms and a bathroom – while in itself containing both the living room and the kitchen. However, the place was big enough that both could have easily been their own rooms had there been walls put up. _demons must have quite a bit of money,_ he reflected as he took in the appearance of the one who was now looking at him with dull eyes similar to those he guessed he also often had.

She was another girl, younger than Rias and Akeno – he would guess maybe 16 or so. Even for a girl of that age, she was rather petite. She had golden eyes and snow-white hair with two long bangs at the front going past her shoulders and several loose bangs hanging over her forehead, while the back was done in a short bob cut. She also wore a black cat-shaped hair clip on either side of her head. She wore the same school uniform as Rias and Akeno but without the shoulder-cape and with a pair of knee-length black socks, and hers was far less form-fitting due to her comparatively smaller body.

"They told me to wait for you to wake up," she said in a tone of voice as flat as her expression. "I'm supposed to take you back when you're ready."

"I'm ready now."

_GRUMBLE!_

"No, you're not," the girl said dryly as his stomach rumbled. "Rias only got you this place last night. It isn't stocked fully, but there's bread. Eat."

There was something … strange about this girl. That wasn't a bad thing in the slightest; it was just that he had learned to recognise when people were repressing. He did it himself all the time. This girl was speaking in short, near-stunted sentences, and she kept all the emotion out of her voice and off of her face. It was apparent to someone like him that she was repressing. It wasn't any of his business, however. He wouldn't ask. Other people's emotional problems were things he wasn't equipped to deal with, anyhow.

Seeing that he wasn't going to be able to argue with her, he moved over to the bread bin on the kitchen counter and took out a couple of slices. He put them in the toaster and started toasting them. "I know you said this place isn't stocked but is there any butter at least?" he asked. "Dry toast is shit."

"In the fridge," she said.

He went over and opened the fridge, finding the butter quickly. He was disappointed by the lack of alcohol, not that he expected to find any. _Christ, I need a drink,_ he thought, unconsciously licking his lips in longing. How long had it been? Two, maybe three days? Now that he was in a calmer environment, the craving was coming back to him. That never-ending thirst …

The toast popped out of the toaster, and he went over to butter it. He didn't bother spreading it evenly. He didn't even bother cutting it in half or anything – he just spread some butter over it and started eating.

"I'm Koneko," the girl said suddenly.

He swallowed what he was chewing. "Zakaria," he said.

They sat in silence as he ate the rest of it.

"Okay, I'm ready now," he said.

"Drink," she told him.

 _If only I had some,_ he thought. Then, out loud, he said, "Oh, you mean water." She gave him a look – it was just her regular expression, but something about it felt like a "look." "Fine," he conceded, going to a cupboard, and taking out a glass. He filled it with water, then gulped the whole lot down in a few seconds. "Happy?"

She just nodded and led him to the centre of the living room part. On the floor, he noticed, was another one of those demonic-looking circles. Koneko stood in the centre of it and waited, looking at him. He took that to mean he had to stand in the middle of it, too, so he walked over and did so. Almost immediately, the circle began to glow. The light got intense enough to blind him, and he closed his eyes to get away from the light, which was far more intense than it had any right to be.

* * *

When Zakaria opened his eyes again, he was back in that clubroom. The demonic symbols were a lot less disconcerting to him now. The moment they arrived, Koneko walked off and took a seat on one of the couches. Zakaria moved with caution and sat on the couch opposite.

Not even a moment later, one of the doors opened and in stepped two teenage boys, only one of whom Zakaria recognised. It was the kid he saved in the park the night before, and he looked perplexed. The other one just screamed "pretty boy." He had short blond hair, greyish-blue eyes, with a small mole beneath the left one, and fair skin. They were both wearing the same school uniform, with a black blazer with white highlights, a white button-down shirt, black trousers, and brown shoes. While the new boy wore his uniform correctly with a black ribbon around his collar, the one Zakaria saved the night before had his shirt open without a ribbon and a red T-shirt underneath.

"Hey, you're that guy!" the one he'd saved exclaimed.

"How observant of you," Zakaria remarked dryly.

The teen blinked at him. "Huh … I, uh, I kinda got the impression last night that you didn't speak Japanese."

"I … _don't_ …" Zakaria said, confused. "You're speaking English, aren't you?"

"Hell no. I don't understand a word of it."

"That's just one of your new demon powers," the one he didn't recognise explained. "Everything is translated for you. Anything anyone says to you will be interpreted in the language you're most familiar with, and everything you say to them will be translated so that they can understand."

"That's convenient," said Zakaria.

"Yes, it is. I'm Yuuto Kiba, by the way."

"Zakaria Holland."

"O-Oh! My name is Issei Hyoudou," said the one he'd saved last night, bowing his head. "Thank you for what you did last night. I don't exactly understand what was happening, but I know I was in trouble, so thanks a lot for saving me."

"No worries, kid," said Zakaria. "I was bleeding to death, anyway."

"Oh, good, everyone is here," came Rias' voice as she and Akeno stepped out of the room off to the side. "I know it's terribly rude, but between calming Issei down and taking care of our new arrival, I'm afraid I didn't get a chance to shower last night. Well, now that everyone has arrived, we can get started." She sat down in the armchair at the end of the table as Akeno moved off to do something. "This meeting serves two purposes. You, Zakaria, are being given an orientation on your situation. How are you, by the way?"

"Good," he said. "The breakdown was over by the time I woke up."

"I suppose I should be happy about that. You're rather relaxed about all this."

"My first breakdown had me hacking a man to death. Hysterical laughter is pretty mild by comparison."

"… I see."

"Tea, anyone?" Akeno said pleasantly, pouring from a pot and into teacups on the coffee table in front of them.

Zakaria picked his up, and while the others delicately sipped and blew on theirs, he just swigged a mouthful immediately. "Delicious," he said, showing no signs of it having burned his mouth.

"Thank you very much," Akeno said happily.

"Continuing on," Rias said, "we're here to brief you on your new life, Zakaria, and in doing so, I hope to make you an appealing offer, Issei."

"What kind of offer?" Issei asked with a very eager expression on his face. It was pretty clear what _kind_ of offer he wanted to hear.

"To become a demon," said Rias. "I'll get straight to the point. Everyone in this room is a demon except for you, Issei."

"… Uh-huh."

Rias' smile widened. "You look like you don't believe me. I would say I understand, but you saw your date grow black wings and stab our new friend here with a spear of light, didn't you? That was a fallen angel. They're beings who used to serve Heaven but were sent to Hell as punishment for evil deeds and intentions."

 _My money's on lust,_ Zakaria thought, thinking back on the fallen angel's outfit.

"Their kind are our enemies," Rias continued. "We demons have been at war with the fallen angels since time immemorial, fighting for hegemony over the underworld that humankind calls Hell. Each of the two factions controls one portion of the underworld. Demons like us build our strength by forging pacts with humans and exacting payment. Fallen angels seek to manipulate humanity and destroy demons. There are also proper angels, who follow the will of Heaven, indiscriminately targeting demons and fallen angels alike. These three factions have been locked in eternal conflict since the beginning of time."

"So … Yuuma was one of these fallen angels?" Issei asked. Zakaria just assumed Yuuma was the one that had impaled him.

"That's right," Rias confirmed. "She made contact with you for the sake of a mission that, thanks to Zakaria here, she never got to accomplish."

"A mission?"

"Yes. To kill you."

"But _why_!? Why would she want me dead!?"

"Calm down, Issei. It's nothing you did … Let's just say you were unlucky …"

"Unlucky!?'"

"Last night, you went on a date with her, and she led you to that park, where she intended to kill you before Zakaria's portal dropped him not far away and he put quite a dent in her plans. She had to get close to you to learn if you possessed something dangerous to them. I'm sure the response wasn't particularly strong, which is why it took her some time to confirm it. But then she found it. Your body is the vessel for a Sacred Gear."

"Sacred Gears are exceptional powers entrusted to certain humans," Yuuto picked up after her. "A lot of famous historical figures are believed to have possessed them. It's the power of their Sacred Gear that inscribed their names into the history books."

"Even today, Sacred Gears continue to appear in the world," Akeno added. "I'm sure you've heard of great individuals playing important roles in society? Many of them possess Sacred Gears, too."

"Most of these items aren't capable of much more than making a few waves in human society," Rias went on, "but some have power formidable enough to threaten demons and fallen angels. Issei, raise your hand." Issei just looked confused. "Quickly now."

Still looking confused, Issei raised his hand. Zakaria looked on in barely visible interest, wondering what power would have been worth trying to kill the kid over.

"Close your eyes and visualise the most powerful thing that comes to mind," Rias urged Issei.

"Th-The most powerful …?" Issei clarified. "L-Like Satoru's energy-wave attack from _Dragon Orb_ …"

"Very well. Imagine that. Picture it at its strongest." She waited a few seconds. "Slowly lower your arm and rise to your feet." She paused as he did so. "Now put yourself in that stance. The absolute strongest pose, all right? Don't hold back." Issei did nothing for a while, hesitating quite clearly now. "Come on."

Sighing in resignation, Issei put his hands together, open, at the wrist, then held them close to his chest. " _Dragon Wave_!" he declared as he thrust his palms forward.

There was a change to the weight of the room, Zakaria noticed. It felt like the air in the room was full of _something_.

"Now open your eyes," Rias told him. "This room is overflowing with energy, so you shouldn't have much trouble manifesting your Sacred Gear."

Issei opened his eyes … and in a flash of light which lingered, becoming a glow which spread from the palm of Issei's left hand down to his elbow. The light dissipated as quickly as it appeared, leaving a red gauntlet in its place.

"Wh-What the hell!?" Issei exclaimed.

"That is your Sacred Gear," Rias informed him. "Now that you have manifested it, you can use it whenever you like. The fallen angel - Yuuma Amano - considered your Sacred Gear a threat. This is why you died, Zakaria."

"I was dying anyway," Zakaria said. "I left most of my blood in my universe, and I leaked plenty onto the street in this one. But the way you've been talking about it, it sounds like you brought me back."

"Yes, I did," she confirmed. "When we transported to your location to investigate the energy signature the portal which dropped you here was producing, I could sense the power in you immediately. That's why I made a gamble and brought you back as my demon servant. From what I've seen so far, I'd guess you have telekinesis. Is that right?"

"It is," he confirmed. "I also seem to have some kind of mental block. I've had things try fucking with my head before, but it hasn't worked."

Rias hummed, pleased. "Useful powers," she remarked. "I'd say I made a good decision." Her expression turned serious once more. "I need you to understand, though, that when I brought you back, I brought you back as my servant, an honoured member of Rias Gremory's Familia. All the demons here are my servants, as well. I don't like to think of myself a tyrant, but I do need you to understand that until such a time as you're ranked high enough to gain your own servants, you work for me. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said without batting an eyelid. "I guess I owe you my life, anyway. Not like I was planning on doing much with it, so at least now there's a point to it."

Rias once again looked briefly concerned. "I'm glad you understand," she said, then she turned back to Issei. "My offer to you, Issei, is to join us. I would like to offer you a place on my Familia as my demon servant. Pay attention, Zakaria, because everything I'm about to say applies to you, too. If you agree to work under me, Issei, you're in for a treat. What you see here, this group of demons, is called a Familia. Just so you know, demon society is divided into different strata. I have a noble title. In our world, one's status largely depends on birth and upbringing, but there are some demons who manage to climb the ladder. Everyone starts as a novice at first."

"Could you please stop talking as though this were a college recruitment!?" Issei exclaimed.

Rias smirked at him. "You know, if you become a demon, you could become _very_ popular with the opposite sex."

"How!?" Issei asked immediately.

 _Hook, line, sinker,_ Zakaria thought, shaking his head in disappointment at Issei's behaviour. _Great. He's one of_ those _guys._

"Most pure-blooded demons perished in the Great War long ago," Rias explained. "As a result, there was a critical shortage of loyal servants. The power and majesty that we used to possess when we stood at the forefront of our great legions were lost, too. Without fresh blood, we were doomed to perish. Just like with humans, there were male and female demons, and we are capable of bearing children. However, it would take eons for our numbers to recover through natural birth alone. Such a thing would leave us defenceless against the fallen angels. That's why we have been finding suitable humans and turning them into demons - as our retainers."

"So, I'd just be a stooge?"

"Oh, don't look so down. Let me get to the point. This conversion method only helps increase the total number of lesser-ranked demons. It doesn't bolster the number of powerful ones, so we introduced a system to give reincarnated demons - that is, those who were once human - a chance to rise up. If a reincarnated demon proves worthy, they will be granted a noble rank and title, regardless of how they were born. This system has really boosted our population. You might be surprised to learn just how many demons are running around. Like the members of my club, there are plenty who have chosen to blend into human society, too. I'm sure you've met more than a handful of us already without realising it."

"There are _other_ demons here!?"

"Yes. Some humans are able to detect us, but most can't. Those filled with powerful desires, or who want to make a deal, are better at sensing our presences. They're the type who usually summon us, using the leaflets that we hand out. Then there are others like you, who can tell us apart but can't bring themselves to actually believe we exist. Not until we show them our demonic powers, anyway."

"S-So when you say I can earn a noble title ...?"

"You have the potential to gain your own servants, yes."

"… So wait, you're telling me that if I join you, I could have a harem of beautiful female servants?" Issei asked.

"Yes, it's certainly possible."

"… I'm in!"


	2. Chapter 2

Delivering flyers to advertise the demons' services was apparently what all new demons started out doing. It was because of this that Zakaria found himself wandering the streets of Kuoh Town with Issei. The two had gone together because Zakaria didn't know the area, so having Issei with him to get him used to the place seemed like a good idea. He didn't have a problem with it as long as Issei didn't start going off about that harem-building dream of his.

"So …" Issei said awkwardly, trying to fish for conversation, "… you're from another universe, huh?"

"Yep," said Zakaria.

"That's pretty awesome. It's like something out of a manga."

"I guess so."

Issei waited for him to say more, then his face dropped when he didn't. "You don't talk much, do you?"

"Nope."

"Fair enough. What was your home universe like?"

"Fucked. It was fucked."

"… Well, okay then …"

"What's with the whole harem thing, Cannon Fodder?" Zakaria asked suddenly. He had weighed it up whether or not to ask for the last few minutes, but his curiosity finally defeated him.

Issei's face gained a dopey grin. "Why not?" he asked. "Getting it on with girls is the whole reason I applied to Kuoh Academy. Did you know that it was an all-girls school until a couple years ago? I figured, since there were gonna be so many more girls than guys, I had a good shot at getting lucky."

"How's that worked out for you, Cannon Fodder?"

Issei deflated. "Not great. I keep getting caught peeping on them changing, and then I get beaten up …"

"Then maybe you shouldn't peak."

"But they look so good!" Issei blinked. "Wait, what is that you keep calling me?"

"Cannon Fodder."

"… Why?"

"Because where I'm from, you probably _would_ be."

Issei couldn't think of anything to say to that, so they continued their work in silence. Zakaria preferred it that way. No talking meant he could listen out for potential threats more efficiently. As his experience had taught him, one could never be too careful.

* * *

The two returned to the clubroom after delivering all their fliers. "We're back, guys," Issei announced as they walked into the room. Zakaria remained silent, merely entering the room and standing, waiting to be addressed or told he can leave for the day.

"Excellent," Rias said from behind her desk. "I trust you did your best showing Zakaria around the city?"

"I think I can navigate pretty well," Zakaria confirmed. "Cannon Fodder was a competent tour guide if nothing else."

"… I'm sorry, 'Cannon Fodder?'" Rias questioned.

"He started calling me that while we were out," Issei explained.

"Why?"

"Because where I'm from, the horny ones usually die first," Zakaria explained with a straight face. "I've seen many people die shortly after having sex in less than ideal situations. Granted, given the reputation he told me he has, I can't see him taking that plunge with anybody anytime soon, but he still thinks with his dick. Hence, Cannon Fodder."

The only one in the room who maintained their usual expression was Koneko, who for the briefest of moments even looked _hopeful_. The others had slack jaws and didn't quite know how to respond to anything he just said.

"Anything else I need to do tonight?" Zakaria asked, ignoring the looks he was getting. "Or can I go home now?"

Rias composed herself and coughed lightly into her fist. "Y-Yes, you're free to leave," she said. "Can you find your way back to the apartment, or should I have somebody take you there? Or you could always use the magic circle if you wanted. I put a matching one in your new home for that purpose."

"I think I'd rather walk. Just give me the address, and I can work my way there myself."

"As you wish." She wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

"Thank you," he said, then walked out of the room without another word.

"… Okay, this is going to sound _filthy rich_ coming from me," Issei spoke up after a few moments. "But that guy has serious issues."

Everybody silently agreed.

* * *

Zakaria found his apartment again with no trouble. On the kitchen counter, he found a credit card that had been placed there while he was out, along with a note explaining that human money was quite literally _no_ object to demons. Hence, he was free to use this however he wished to stock up his home with anything he might need, do some redecorating, or even just treating himself. Apparently, everyone on the Familia had one of these, bar Issei, who was the only one who still lived with his family.

Zakaria decided to see about getting some necessities for his home in the morning. Tonight, his first use of this credit card was going to be getting that drink he'd been craving.

He wandered town until he came across the first bar he saw, and he went in. It was a nice place, vastly different in atmosphere from the American bars in his home universe. Calmer. That got the smallest of smiles out of him. It would be nice to be able to drink in peace.

"Double Jack Daniel's, on the rocks," he said to the barman once he got up to the bar. He waited, got his drink, and turned around to grab a table and sit by himself.

There was a man behind him.

He looked to be in his middle ages, maybe late 30s to early 40s, with black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a pale grey trench coat over a white dress shirt and matching ascot, black trousers and shoes, a pair of black gloves, and a black fedora. This man wore a lot of black. The word "edge lord" came to mind given the trench coat/fedora combo.

"A lone demon come to drown his sorrows," Dohnaseek observed in what appeared to be amusement. "Gotta admit, if you're a stray, you're a damn bold one. Who's your master?"

"Rias Gremory," Zakaria answered quickly. He didn't want to let on that he didn't know what a "stray" was. Knowledge is power, after all, and he didn't want it to appear that he didn't have any. "Going by the events of the last couple days, I take it you're a fallen angel?"

"You take it right," said the fallen angel. "Well, you're not a stray. You seem too green to be a stray."

"You got me. I've been a demon since last night."

The fallen angel chuckled. "Lemme guess, you're the guy that sent Raynare back to us with a hole in her side." His smile grew, seemingly amused. "What the hell did you coat that blade of yours with? It takes a lot to cause an infection in supernatural creatures, but somehow you managed it. That wound is _not_ pretty."

"It was still dirty from the last time I used it. Zombies, a werewolf, a giant snake, and even a unicorn, among other things." He shrugged. "I kinda lost count of the number of different things I killed with that thing before ending up in that park."

"… I don't want to fraternise with the enemy, but I _really_ want to hear that story."

"Too bad about the whole enemy thing, then. What are you drinking?"

The fallen angel looked surprised. "Just beer, usually."

Zakaria turned back to the bar. "Can I get a Corona for my friend here?" he asked.

"Uh, no, not that one," said the fallen angel awkwardly. "I'll have a Budweiser if you're buying."

Zakaria relayed that to the barman and handed the fallen angel his beer. "Let's call it a peace offering," he said. "No need to be aggressive in here. I'm just going to grab a table, drink, and imagine how much peace I'd be in if your skimpy-dressing friend had managed to finish me off." He walked off before what he'd just said had time to register and sat down at an empty table, taking his first sip of the whiskey.

A few seconds later, the fallen angel sat across from him. "I'm Dohnaseek," he introduced himself.

"Zakaria."

"Well, Zakaria, I don't know about you, but drinking alone always has kind of depressed me. I might just hang out here with you while we're here."

"I won't stop you."

There was no spark of friendship between the two, no hint that these two people from enemy factions would have any sort of relationship beyond sitting quietly in each other's presence. Yet this was still a sight that would boggle the minds of others in the supernatural world. Zakaria the demon and Dohnaseek the fallen angel had become, it would appear, drinking buddies.

* * *

Things became routine for Zakaria over the next few days. He would spend most of his day doing whatever came to mind, just for the sake of _something_ to do, and was always prepared for things to go south. Then, in the afternoon, he would go to Kuoh Academy for the Occult Research Club meetings. He would teleport on the way there because he didn't the students to see a strange man on school grounds; that was a fantastic way of giving precisely the wrong impression. He would walk on the way back, though. It was more dangerous, but the danger was second nature to him, so it felt more natural. During club time, he would hand out fliers with Issei, whose attempts at conversation fell flat but were still appreciated. After the club was over, he would go to the bar, where he would drink in comfortable silence with Dohnaseek. Occasionally, one of them would say something, and maybe a short conversation would be had, but it didn't go further than that. Zakaria wouldn't precisely say Dohnaseek was his _friend_ , but it was better than drinking alone, and he was grateful for it.

Then, after about a week of this, Rias decided to change things up.

"Good, you're both here now," she said after he teleported into the clubroom. She gave Akeno a nod.

"Understood, President," said Akeno. "Issei, will you step into the magic circle?" She gestured to it with her hand, and Issei stepped into it with no hesitation.

"You two have handed out enough leaflets. Good work." Rias flashed them a satisfied grin. "Now it's time for you to start your work as demons in earnest."

"Awesome!" Issei spoke up in excitement. "So we get to make pacts!?"

"Indeed," Rias confirmed. "Of course, as this is the first time for both of you, we shall start with relatively simple ones. One is a new client; the other is a regular of Koneko's. She's been double-booked for the evening, and since she can't do both, we shall leave one to you, Issei."

"... Thanks for helping me out," said Koneko, curtly nodding her head.

The magic circle began glowing in blue and white around Issei, who started looking concerned. "Um …" he started.

"Quiet now, Issei," Rias told him. "Akeno is busy attuning the circle to your seal. We already did Zakaria's when he was unconscious because we had to get him between here and his apartment." A few moments passed by. "Issei, hold out your hand." Issei raised his left hand towards her, and she started drawing something on it with her fingers. A blue and white glow soon began to emanate from his palm. "This is a teleportation circle. It will allow you to transport yourself to the client instantaneously, and when you're finished, it will return you to this room. Akeno, are we ready?"

"Yes, President," Akeno responded.

"Now stand in the middle," Rias ordered Issei. He did so. The glow of the circle increased. "The magic circle is responding to the client. You will be able to jump there whenever you want. You know what to do when you arrive, I presume?"

"Yes!" Issei responded enthusiastically.

"A good response. Be on your way, then."

The magic circle glowed even brighter, reaching blinding levels. It covered Issei's body. Zakaria, still unused to the demons' aversion to light, had to close his eyes it got so bright.

Then the light vanished, and he opened his eyes.

Issei was still there.

Rias facepalmed.

Akeno looked disappointed. "Oh dear," she said.

Yuuto sighed.

Koneko did nothing.

Zakaria didn't know what was going on.

"Issei," said Rias.

"Yes?" Issei responded.

"I'm sorry about this, but it looks like you won't be able to use the circle to jump to the client." Issei's face twisted in confusion, so she explained, "Using a magic circle requires a certain level of mastery over your demonic powers ... Not a great level of mastery, mind you. Actually, any demon should be able to pull it off, even a child. Warping with the help of a magic circle is the very first step in the life of a demon, after all. In other words, Issei, you're not even at the level of a demon child. Your powers are so undeveloped that the circle won't respond to you. Your level is too low."

…

…

…

"W-What the _heeeeeeeeeeell_!?" Issei exclaimed in shock.

"… Pathetic," said Koneko. Despite her clear tone, you could _feel_ the insult in that one word.

Zakaria sighed. "You really _are_ just cannon fodder, aren't you?" he asked rhetorically. It seemed that every single second he was with Issei, a new way of getting himself killed popped up. It was a wonder this one made it past infancy. Hell, it was a wonder he made it past the _conception stage_.

"Oh dear. This is a problem. What should we do, President?" Akeno asked.

"We can't keep the client waiting," Rias decided. "Issei."

"Yes!" he said, eager to find a solution to this.

"We've never had to do this before, but I want you to go on foot."

"On foot!?"

"Yes, just like how you did when you were distributing the leaflets. I'm afraid we have no choice. You don't have any powers, so you'll have to make up for that in other ways."

"On my bike? You want me to go to the client on my bike? Are demons even supposed to do that!?"

Koneko just pointed at him.

Zakaria decided he liked this one. "Looks like there's one now," he agreed with her gesture. "Any chance I can get on with my job now, President?"

"Of course," said Rias. "Just step into the circle. You know what to do."

Zakaria stepped into the magic circle, which instantly began to glow brighter. He was still in the room just long enough to see Issei flip him the bird before he was transported out of there.

* * *

When the light of the magic circle faded, he was in the house of his client. It was a small place, he could tell from how small the central room was. There was the door out and two other doors, which probably led to a bedroom and a bathroom, respectively. This central area was like a tiny version of his front room, being a combination of a living room and a kitchen, but here, the two were sort of crammed together in a cramped space. This was a tiny, cheap apartment.

His client was a young woman, maybe a year or two younger than he was, and she looked somewhat ragged and overworked. Short, dark hair and an innocent yet tired face made up her head, and she wore plain clothes that reflected the cheapness of her abode.

"I'm the demon you ordered," Zakaria said awkwardly. He wasn't used to customer service. "My name is Zakaria. How can I help you?"

"M-My name is Madoka," his client said nervously. "T-To be honest, I didn't expect this to work, but I had to try _something_."

"Well, what do you need?"

"It's my boyfriend. He's _terrified_ of something and won't come out from under his futon."

"… Continue."

"He stopped leaving the apartment and refused to go to the psych clinic. At first, it wasn't so bad because he still left to go to the bathroom, but now … now, he wears diapers." She shuddered. "And, of course, _I'm_ the one who has to take care of him. I work so we can keep living, but then I also have to take care of Tomio while I'm here. His name's Tomio, by the way. I … I'm afraid I'm approaching my limits …"

"Understandable," Zakaria tried to reassure her, though his blunt tone prevented that. "Nobody wants … _that_. Maybe I should go see him."

Madoka nodded. "He's in the bedroom. Follow me."

She led him into one of the side rooms, which did indeed turn out to be a bedroom. There was a television in one corner, a bookshelf right next to it, and a metric tone of evidence that somebody had been living exclusively out of this room for Satan only knows how long. There were two futons, one of them occupied, which in any other relationship, Zakaria would have considered a bad sign. Still, in this case, he could understand why Madoka might not be thrilled with the idea of sleeping with her boyfriend.

Madoka walked over to the occupied futon. Its occupant was totally covered by it, hiding under the covers. Madoka knelt. "Tomio," she spoke softly. "I brought somebody here to help you. This is Zakaria."

"Hello, Tomio," said Zakaria. "I'm going to try and help. Can you come out for a moment?"

"N-No!" came a muffled voice from beneath the futon. "I won't come out! Those th-things will get me!"

"What things, Tomio?" Zakaria asked.

"The spirits! They're everywhere! You should get inside your futon, Madoka! Nobody's safe!"

"If you point them out to me, Tomio, maybe I can help." Zakaria couldn't help but wonder if this contract was given to him by a higher power or something. A man who saw monsters … that was right up his alley. "You could say I'm kind of a specialist."

"A specialist …?" Tomio asked. The cover of the futon shifted. "Wh-Who are you?" He poked his head out, saw Zakaria's face, and immediately started screaming. "Aaaaaaah! _Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!_ G-Get out! Demon! Monster! Get out!"

Zakaria raised an eyebrow. "I won't deny being a demon," he said, "but how do you know from looking at my face? As far as I'm aware, I didn't change at all physically."

"I-I can see your face! That horrible, horrible face!"

"Rude. Would you please just come out?"

"N-Never! Leave this place!"

"I … I think bringing you here might have been a mistake …" Madoka tried to say.

Zakaria ignored her. "Tomio," he said, his voice lower, dangerous. " _Get out of that fucking futon right this second, or so help me, I'll drag you out by your hair_."

"Z-Zakaria …!" Madoka tried to protest.

"It's your choice, Tomio," he continued. "You can maintain a little dignity and poke your head out of there, or I can treat you like the tantrum-throwing child you're insistently acting like and _drag_ you the fuck out of there. You've got ten seconds."

It was seven seconds before Tomio's head peaked back out of the futon.

"Good," said Zakaria. "Now, Tomio, I'm going to ask you something, and you'd better give me an answer. When did you start seeing these 'spirits?'"

Tomio's eyes darted around, landing on Madoka a few times. "I …" He couldn't seem to get the words out. "I …"

"I'm waiting, Tomio," Zakaria said impatiently. "Don't make me ask twice."

Tomio swallowed. "It … it was the night after I brought this woman home for a one-night stand," he cringed in on himself as he glanced at an understandably shocked Madoka. "I-I-I'm sorry, Madoka! She was just passing by one night while you were out. I'd never seen her before. A-Afterwards, she s-said she was a witch. She really freaked me out, so I told her to get out and stopped the whole thing before it could go any further. B-But then I started seeing those _things_ all over the house. I think she really was a witch!"

"Most likely," Zakaria agreed readily. "But she clearly didn't do anything _real,_ or else we'd probably all be seeing these 'spirits,' though the fact that you can see that I'm a demon is rather curious … In any case, if you want this to stop, you _have_ to take that step yourself, Tomio. You have to get out of that futon."

"N-No!"

"Get _out_ of it, Tomio."

"I said, no!"

"Well, too fucking bad." Zakaria, his patience evaporated, stepped towards the futon, grabbed Tomio by the hair, and started dragging him out. "I warned you, asshole. You have nobody to blame for this but yourself. That's something you can also say about this whole fucking situation." Tomio's struggling made no difference to Zakaria, who was already adept at manhandling people before the extra demon strength was added. When he had pulled Tomio out all the way, he shoved him to the side and stepped towards the futon again. "Let's take a look at this thing." He looked inside the futon. "… Are you really that stupid, or were you so freaked out that you never noticed?"

"Noticed what?" Madoka asked, cradling a whimpering Tomio in her arms with a conflicted look on her face. Tomio himself looked like he was going through a full-on mental breakdown at this stage.

He opened the futon wider, for all to see. There was some sort of dark green, spongy stuff growing on the inside of it. "The Wicked Witch of the West probably magicked it there once Tomio was done boning her brains out and kicking her to the curb," Zakaria theorised mercilessly. "You want my advice, Madoka? Burn this, then go and get yourself a vibrator or something. It'll do you more good than he will." He stood up and wiped his hands off on his trousers. "Now, I believe I've done what you wanted. Time to discuss payment."

Zakaria told her what the charge came to, took the payment, and teleported out of there. He was glad to see the back of Tomio. As bad as Issei was, at the very least Cannon Fodder was open and honest about what he was.

* * *

"You're back," Rias observed as Zakaria transported back into the clubroom. "Were you successful?"

"I was," Zakaria said, walking to her desk and placing the payment upon it. "Some idiot fucked a witch and got himself cursed. All I ended up having to do was tell them what to do about it. I did also throw in some advice to his girlfriend free of charge, but it mostly consisted of 'ditch the prick.'"

Rias hummed in interest. "It's not often that we get a contract with supernatural elements other than ourselves," she commented. "Sounds like you handled yourself well, though. I'm impressed."

He shrugged. "It was nothing. Got anything else that needs doing?"

"No, no, that's it for tonight." She waved a hand idly. "Feel free to go home."

"Thank you."

As he left, he thought about picking up some booze for his place on the way there. He would go to the bar afterwards, but it was nice to know it was ready and available in the apartment when he needed it.

* * *

There was no contract for him the next day. Issei hadn't exactly impressed with his contract, so when another one came in, Rias gave it to him in hopes that he would improve his performance. He didn't. The day after that, when Zakaria arrived in the clubroom, he found Issei being given a lecture by Rias, but it wasn't about the contracts like he was expecting.

"Don't go anywhere near that church again," she told him sternly. "Churches are hostile places to us demons. Taking even one step inside could have fatal ramifications for relations between our side and theirs. It looks like the angels decided to look kindly on you this time since you were helping one of their servants, but remember that they are always on alert. It wouldn't have been surprising if a spear of light had been hurled your way."

" _What did I miss?_ " Zakaria asked Koneko in a whisper as he sat down next to her.

"Pervert walked a lost nun to the church," she explained.

"Cannon Fodder" was becoming a more appropriate nickname by the second. It seemed like Issei went out of his way to fuck up.

Of course, Zakaria was drinking with the enemy just about every night, but the difference was that he honestly didn't _care_ about his own life.

"Don't involve yourself with anyone even remotely connected to the Church," Rias scolded Issei. "Exorcists, in particular, are our mortal enemies. They carry God's blessing and are capable of destroying us at will. Even more dangerous are exorcists in possession of Sacred Gears. You were brushing up against death there, Issei. Zakaria here escaped death as a human by being reincarnated as a demon, but an exorcist will extinguish your life completely. You will be reduced to nothingness. Absolute nothingness. No consciousness, no existence. Do you realise what that means?"

_Actually, it sounds like kind of a good time,_ Zakaria thought.

"Y-Yes, Prez," Issei said quietly. "… Sorry."

Rias sighed. "Sorry. Perhaps I was a little harsh. In any event, watch your step."

"I will ..."

"Oh my. Have you finished lecturing him?" Akeno asked with a smile.

"What is it, Akeno?" Rias asked.

Akeno's face turned serious. "The archduke has requested that we embark on a hunt."

* * *

"So, stray demons start out as demon servants?" Issei asked as he and Zakaria had the concept explained to them by the others. "You mean like we are?"

"No, not exactly," Yuuto explained as they transported to the location. "Once in a while, a servant rebels and kills their master to gain freedom. Then they become strays."

They looked up at the large building in front of them. "According to the reports," said Akeno, "this stray has been tricking people into that abandoned house and eating them."

" _Gross_ ," said Issei.

"Familiarity at last," Zakaria mused. "Hunting this thing sounds like my average Tuesday back home." The sad thing was that while that _was_ an exaggeration, it wasn't a _big_ one.

"Tonight's job shouldn't be too hard," Akeno went on. "Just find the beast and kill it."

"These monsters are pure evil," Yuuto continued to explain as they entered the house. "They don't care about anything but their own selfish desires, and that always ends in ugliness."

"Issei, Zakaria," Rias said, getting their attention. "Are you two familiar with the game of chess?"

"Yes," said Zakaria.

"Yeah, sort of," said Issei. "I've played it, but I totally suck."

"As the master, I'm the King," Rias explained. "My empress is the Queen, my cavalier the Knight, my tank the Rook, my clergyman the Bishop, and my foot soldier the Pawn. demons with ranks of nobility grant the characteristics of these pieces to each one of their servants."

"That sounds kick-A," said Issei.

"We have a special name for them," said Rias. "We call them our Evil Pieces."

"Sounds inviting," Zakaria said dryly.

"They were created because of all the casualties we suffered during the Great War and the battles that came after. demons have naturally low birth rates, so we needed a more efficient way to replenish our numbers."

"Sorry, but why are you telling us all this?" Issei asked.

"I want the two of you to watch and learn. Pay close attention to my demons as they do battle here tonight."

"Oh, okay," said Issei.

Zakaria just nodded.

"It's here," Koneko announced.

"Now what could that foul, faecal smell be?" came a woman's voice from somewhere in the darkness. "Mmm, something smells quite delicious, as well. I wonder if it tastes sweet or bitter." From behind a pillar emerged a naked woman. Her body was quite voluptuous, and her ample breasts were on full display. She had long, black hair and grey eyes, and though her face was pretty, its expression of hunger was most disturbing to behold.

"Byser, you wretch," said Rias. "You betrayed your master and ran away to fulfil the lustful wants and desires that have consumed you. Your sins are worthy of a thousand Hells. In the name of Duke Gremory, begone or meet your death!"

"Oh, just give it a rest, you little slut," said Byser. "You always have had it in for me." She grabbed and began caressing her breasts, breathing heavily as she spoke. "You're just jealous 'cause your breasts will never be as luscious as these!"

"This is your final warning!" Rias declared. "Go back to your master now!"

"Whoa," said Issei. "This is a stray demon? She looks like a soft-core late-night cable star!"

That was when Byser's lower half stepped out of the darkness. It was gigantic and beastly, with four legs, each of which had sharp claws and the front pair of which had giant hands on the end, and a snake for a tail.

… _I think it says something about me that I'd probably still do that,_ Zakaria decided.

Issei seemed to be of the opposite opinion. He looked _horrified_.

"You see what I mean?" Yuuto asked. "When I said it ends in ugliness, I wasn't joking."

The subject of the conversation was still rubbing her tits. Her mouth was wide open, and her tongue, long and pointed, was sticking out. She also showed that she had fangs.

"She's got a really nice rack, though," Issei said in what was almost a whine. "What a waste."

A red magic circle surrounded both of Byser's nipples, which elongated and pointed outwards.

"What the fuck?" Zakaria said aloud as they started firing glowing blasts. He dove to the floor to avoid the explosions. He looked up at the wall behind him where they'd hit and saw the wall melting. "Her tits shoot acid …?" _Huh … I think that might_ actually _be a new one … Life can still surprise me, I guess._

"This is one porno I don't wanna be in," Issei said fearfully as he looked at the damage.

"Please be careful," Rias warned them both. "Yuuto!"

Yuuto got into a stance, went to draw his sword … and seemed to vanish before their eyes.

"He vanished!" Issei exclaimed.

"No, he didn't," Rias explained. "He's just moving fast. In this game, he is my Knight. His attribute is speed, and his ultimate attack weapon is his sword."

As if on cue, both of Byser's front legs separated from her body. Blood gushed out of the wounds as the missing appendages fell to the floor. Byser screamed in agony, thrashing around at the loss of her limbs. Koneko approached her from the front as she calmed down and growled at them.

"Koneko, watch out!" Issei yelled.

Byser growled down at Koneko. All of her teeth grew sharper, her ears elongated and narrowed to a point, her sclera turned black, her mouth widened almost like a piranha's, and her _stomach_ opened up to reveal a massive amount of large, sharp teeth in a hole that looked … incredibly suggestive. She lunged at Koneko, who didn't put up any sort of fight as the cavity in Byser's stomach closed around her.

"It's all right," Rias said in case either of them was worried.

Byser's body tensed as the cavity which had just swallowed Koneko began to open. Byser was quite visibly struggling to keep it closed, but it was doing no good. Eventually, it opened utterly, releasing strings of what Zakaria certainly _hoped_ was saliva, revealing Koneko. Koneko was holding it open with ease, not shaking, not even breaking a sweat. The only indication anything had even happened was the fact that her uniform was ripped in a few places.

"In the game, she's my Rook," Rias explained. "Her attribute is simple: she has an unparalleled strength. That won't even put a dent in her."

"See you on the flip side," Koneko said. She turned around inside Byser's mouth and unleashed a punch that sent the beast flying and colliding with the wall far behind her. She impacted it with a yell and fell to the ground as pieces of the ceiling and nearby pillars rained down on her from the impact.

"Mental note to self: do not piss her off," said Issei.

"A mental note implies you're making it internally, Cannon Fodder," Zakaria told him.

"Akeno," said Rias.

"Oh, is it my turn?" Akeno asked pleasantly, smiling. She walked forward. "How exciting. I so love this game." She chuckled.

"Look out!" Issei yelled suddenly, moving towards Rias.

Zakaria looked and saw one of Byser's severed hands leaping at her. He reached out with his telekinesis and froze it in the air as Issei knocked Rias to the side. "Sacred Gear!" he shouted, punching the hand where it hung in midair. It was obliterated in one punch.

"Thanks for that, Issei," said Rias, getting up. "Good teamwork, you two."

"Hey, no problem," Issei said sheepishly. "My body did that on its own."

"Nothing I haven't done before," Zakaria said, shrugging.

Rias stepped forward. "Akeno, finish her off please."

"I've got news for you," Akeno informed the stray demon. "You're not the only one who likes to play rough here, so let's you and I have some fun." She raised her hands in front of her, and they began to crackle and flicker with electricity.

"Akeno is my Queen," Rias elaborated. "Her attributes are a perfect combo of all the other pieces. She's simply unbeatable."

"Tough girl," Akeno said in a tone so pleasant it couldn't be anything but mocking. "Not ready to give up yet?" She raised her hands in the air. "Goody! I get to play some more!" A massive amount of lightning rained down from above and into Akeno's open hands. She then flung it all at Byser, who had a spasm at the electrocution and practically _screeched_ at the top of her lungs in pain as lightning coursed through her body.

"Her weapon is a dark magical power," said Rias. "And that's not all."

"This violence," Akeno breathed out huskily, touching her face. "It's making me so hot." She licked her lips.

"She's really into S and M."

Akeno continued to force electricity into Byser's body gleefully. Her previously gleeful statements were now notably aroused-sounding. " _Is this as good for you as it is for me_?" she asked in what was very nearly a moan.

"You mean she gets off on this?" Issei asked.

"Akeno, I think she's had enough," Rias decided.

Akeno obediently stopped shocking Byser. "Aaaaw, over already?" she whined. Her cheeks flushed as she turned to face the others. "I was just starting to enjoy myself."

Rias approached the downed, groaning form of Byser. "Any last words before we finish this?" she asked.

" _Go to Hell_ ," Byser spat venomously.

"All right. How about we get it over with, then?" She spread her arms out at her sides. "Game over."

At those two words, Zakaria had to suppress a shudder. The last time he'd heard those two words … well, he'd come out of it for the better, but it had _not_ been a pleasant experience.

Energy of pure darkness sprung forth from Rias and impacted Byser, consuming her entirely within its mass. When it dissipated, she was gone. There was no trace that she was ever there.

"We're done here," Rias said. "Come on. Let's go home."

"Sounds good to me," said everyone but Issei and Zakaria, who just silently agreed.

"B-But … wait a second," said Issei.

"What's wrong?" asked Rias.

"What am I? What chess piece? I'd just like to know how I fit in. Tell me, am I a Knight or something badass like that?"

"I'd like to know, too, actually," Zakaria agreed.

"You are both Pawns," Rias said as they started walking out of the building.

"But I don't wanna be a Pawn," Issei whined.

"Well, I'm sorry, that's what you are."

"But that blows."

"Not as much as you might think," Zakaria said. "I've not played much chess, but I understand the rules. The Pawn _seems_ like the least threatening piece at first, but it's one of the most useful ones on the board. You get your Pawn to the opponent's side of the board, and you can promote it to any piece other than the King. I don't know if that's how these things work, but the Pawn not having a special trait when the others do would be pretty shitty design, in my opinion."

"Huh … that's kind of a good point, I guess," Issei said. "Thanks, ma—"

"Now, the rest of you," Zakaria said, cutting off Issei's thanks and grabbing everyone's attention. "That was a rather good battle, but you all need to learn a thing or two. Yuuto, disarming the enemy is a good tactic to pull at the start of a fight, but with speed like that, you should go for the kill once the enemy's ability to fight back is gone. Koneko, as amazing a feat of strength as that was, allowing yourself to be swallowed is just fucking stupid. Akeno, your enthusiasm for causing pain will serve you well, but don't keep using the same attack over and over or else your target will get used to the pain it causes and start to form a counterattack. And, finally, Rias. If you have an attack that can immediately vaporise and destroy the enemy, why don't you _start_ with that? Class dismissed."

He walked off and out of the building. The others, frozen in surprise, just stared at him as he left.

"What the hell just happened?" Yuuto asked.

Nobody had an answer for him.


	3. Chapter 3

This time, it was Issei who had to stay back while Zakaria went on the available contract. Rias decided to take a more hands-on approach in getting Issei to improve, so she was currently running him through different contract scenarios. At the same time, Zakaria went on the spare contract. Personally, Zakaria thought the only way Issei was going to learn was if she promised _him_ something _hands-on_ , but he had enough sense not to make that implication out loud. Women were, even to him, the scariest of creatures.

Within about a second of transporting into the client's house, Zakaria knew something was wrong.

_This looks familiar,_ he thought as he beheld the corpse of what he could only assume was the man he was to be helping this evening. His body, soaked head to toe in his blood, was nailed to the wall upside down in a cross position. Upside down crosses were never a good sign in Zakaria's experience, to say nothing of the corpse itself. He was cut up terrible, to the point where it was a miracle his body was still being held together, with his guts hanging, dangling down towards his head, out of deep gashes in his stomach. Some of the smaller ones had even fallen to the floor. There was writing in a language Zakaria couldn't read – it looked vaguely like Latin – on the wall, written in the client's blood.

"'Punish the wicked,'" said the voice of the perpetrator, a man. "Words to live by. Wise advice from a holy man."

"Sloppy work," Zakaria said, not even bothering to ask who the guy was talking about. "You were lucky to find space for the nails in the chest with him so cut up like that. Also, good thing you pinned him up upside down, or else the nails in the palms of his hands would just slip out. You want to nail the _wrists_ to keep someone up. The tissue of the hands isn't strong enough to support the body. If he were still alive, he'd be able to rip himself off easily." _And don't I know it,_ he thought to himself.

He finally turned around to face the murderer. He was a young man with short white hair and red eyes. He was dressed in what looked like clerical clothing, with a cross dangling around his neck. There was a broad, disturbing (well, disturbing to others, maybe; Zakaria had seen worse) smile on his face. The priest hummed. "Thanks for the tip," he said, "but I don't need advice from a filthy demon!"

"Suit yourself," Zakaria said, drawing his machete from its sheath. "A bit young to be a priest, aren't you? You strike me as more of an altar boy."

The priest-boy laughed. " _Yes, I'm a priest, a youthful priest, here to slay this demon beast,_ " he sang. " _With a grin and a laugh, I'll tear you in half, and have me a glorious feast!_ "

"Fascinating," said Zakaria, moving around a little. He wanted to find a strategically sound position from which to go for this little prick's throat before he could get a chance to attack. Luckily, the little shit seemed to be a talker. "Though I'm afraid you sound more like an exorcist than a priest. You may want to make your job title a bit clearer."

The boy priest laughed again. "I like you," he said. "But don't tell anybody; I have an image to maintain. Freed Sellzen, at your service. I work for a certain devil-purging organisation you may have heard of. Ah, don't feel obliged to introduce yourself just because I did. I don't really care who you are. Fret not, you will perish soon! I will make sure of that. It may be painful at first, but you'll be crying for joy before too long. Now let's get a move on!"

"More intimidating psychopaths than you have tried, pipsqueak. I've met _nuns_ more intimidating than you."

Freed's expression darkened. "Oh?" he asked. "Aren't you going to turn tail? You're a strange one. _Very_ strange. I mean, a mere _demon_ thinking he's some kinda super, mega badass? That's fucking rich. Don't you understand how shitty an existence you demons have? That's sad. Maybe you should go back to basics and try things over in the next life ...? Though I guess reincarnation only applies to humans, so it's useless for me to say this to y—"

Having no particular desire to relive his shitty childhood (not that his adulthood was any better) or continue listening to this asshole speak, Zakaria darted forward without warning, bringing his machete around for a swing. He swung fast and hard, but it amounted to absolutely nothing as Freed saw it coming, narrowed his eyes, and hurled himself backwards, allowing the machete to pass him by harmlessly. He caught himself on his hands and back-flipped back to his feet, grinning savagely.

"You sly dog!" he said, laughing and grabbing some sort of cylinder from a sheath on his waist. "You got me monologuing! You damn near took my fucking head off, you piece of shit!"

"That was the idea."

_BUZZ!_

A beam of pure light shot from the cylinder and stopped at about three feet long. From the other side of his waist, Freed drew a gun which Zakaria had no doubt would fire bullets that were particularly hazardous to his health. He briefly recalled the feeling of Raynare's spear of light penetrating his chest and nearly shuddered. If that was how it felt when he was human, he didn't even want to imagine what it would feel like now that he was a demon.

"George Lucas needs to sue someone," Zakaria commented, looking upon the discount lightsaber. "Starting with Disney, then moving on to you."

"You're starting to irritate me, so I'm going to cut you now," Freed declared. "I'm gonna cut out your heart and blow your fucking head off!"

Freed came sprinting towards him, slashing his blade of light. It was a classic feint. Zakaria dodged out of the way of the sword and, at the same time, reached out with his mind to knock Freed's gun arm off-course. The gun fired, as Zakaria knew it would, but silently. The bullets were pure light. They impacted a couple of random spots on the wall, leaving smoking holes. Zakaria rolled away from Freed and jumped to his feet, turning around and brandishing his machete.

He wasted no time in charging while Freed was still off-balance. He brought his machete up and swung it in a downward arch, intending to do as much damage as possible. Freed, seeing this, managed to throw himself out of the way just barely in time. Zakaria's machete still grazed Freed's arm as it shot past, ripping away the fabric of his sleeve and taking off a few inches of skin on the arm.

Freed was able to ignore that. He shot around and glared at Zakaria. The two stared each other down, Freed's eyes full of deadly intent, Zakaria's a picture of indifference.

The two would doubtlessly have jumped each other again if they hadn't been interrupted.

"W-What's going on in here?" came the soft, female voice.

Zakaria and Freed both looked towards their interrupter. It was a nun, a young one, maybe around 16 or 17. She looked harmless, perhaps even innocent, but Zakaria hadn't been joking when he'd said he'd met nuns more intimidating than Freed, so he kept his guard up. She was a pretty girl with long blonde hair which flowed down her back, with split bangs over her forehead and a single strand sticking out from the top and sloping backwards, and green eyes. She was wearing a dark teal nun's habit with light blue accents, a white veil over her head with bright blue accents, a brown satchel slung on her right hip, and brown boots with black straps in an X-shaped pattern. She also wore a silver cross necklace around her neck.

"Well, if it isn't my assistant, Asia," said Freed. "What are you doing? Have you finished setting up the barrier already?"

"N-Noooooooo!" the nun screamed, her eyes locked on the dead man pinned to the wall.

Zakaria relaxed. He knew genuine shock, fear, and disgust when he saw it. He could safely focus all of his attention on Freed.

"What an adorable little scream!" Freed thanked her gleefully. "Right, this is your first time seeing a body, isn't it? In that case, then look carefully. This is what the job entails, my dear. We dispose of unfortunate people who have been bewitched by the evil demons."

"… N-No …" she whimpered.

"You, girl," Zakaria said, attracting her attention. "I suggest you step outside. This is no place for a bystander right now."

"Naw, she can stay and watch," Freed disagreed, waving him off. "We can call this a learning experience! She can get a first-hand look at what we do with shitty demons who don't know their place. Now c'mere, shithead! I need to cut you to ribbons!"

Freed raised his gun, using the inner-elbow of his sword arm to keep his aim straight, and started firing. Zakaria dodged out of the way, moving away from the doorway that Asia was standing in. Even though he had discounted her as a threat, her presence still made this complicated. He had someone other than himself to worry about now. He couldn't pull anything too crazy. He dodged out of the way of the bullets, managing to get a bit closer to Freed with each dodged shot, and eventually, he got close enough to go for another plunge.

He jumped forward with another side slash of the machete. Freed quickly moved his sword arm away from his gun arm and brought his sword out to meet the incoming blade. For a horrifying second, Zakaria was sure the sword of light would shatter the machete. He was more scared of losing something he'd had for what seemed like his whole life at this point than he was of being weaponless against this psychopath. Much to his surprise, however, the two swords _clanged_ together as though they were both made of metal. He stumbled slightly at the unexpected fight for dominance as Freed now pushed against his machete, but he quickly righted himself and began pushing right back.

Freed grinned at him. "So, you like it up close and personal, huh?" he asked, sticking out his tongue in a mockingly lecherous manner.

Not into what Freed was implying, and more than a little accustomed to fighting dirty, Zakaria's response was to swiftly bring a knee up and slam it into a particular spot between Freed's legs.

Freed immediately stopped putting pressure on Zakaria's machete and cringed backwards, allowing the momentum the sword had built up to take it past him. A small part of Zakaria thought about saying something about "a couple of acres," but he held back. Action movie one-liners were for people with time to waste talking during a fight.

" _Motherfucker_ ," Freed growled.

Zakaria moved forward with his machete raised over his head, prepared to strike.

"Please stop!" Asia shouted from the doorway.

Her words went unheeded by both of them, as Freed brought his sword back up and knocked the machete off-course, bringing his gun up and pointing it at Zakaria's head. Zakaria moved his head to the side just in time to feel the bullet whizzing by him. It took off a few hairs on his head as it went. He brought his leg up to kick Freed in the chest and away from him, but the lunatic brought his gun arm down and drove the butt of the gun into Zakaria's leg, knocking it back down. Zakaria stumbled back. Freed came at him with the sword, bloodlust lighting up his eyes.

That was when Asia jumped between them. "Stop it!" she yelled.

Freed was already jamming his sword forward and clearly didn't care that she was in the way. His eyes portrayed his madness. Zakaria jumped ahead and grabbed the girl by her shoulders, pushing her to the side and down to the floor. He moved enough with her that Freed's blade didn't impale him, but it grazed him on the shoulder, and that was more than enough. It was easily the most intense pain he had ever felt, which was fucking _saying something_. It was like someone had poured molten magma directly into his veins from the shoulder and it was quickly spreading through his veins.

"Get out," he practically growled at Asia as he quickly jumped back to his feet and faced Freed again.

The wound was a significant disadvantage. He could deal with the pain, excruciating though it may have been, but he wasn't so foolish as to think his body would be able to keep up with his mental blocking of the pain this quickly. He had to end this fight as soon as he could.

That was when the same space he had transported in from began to light up in white and blue.

_Their timing could be better,_ Zakaria thought as the magic circle lit up the room and, very quickly, the rest of the Occult Research Club appeared in the centre of it.

"Zakaria, we're here to rescue you," Yuuto said, smiling.

"Oh dear, aren't we in a spot of trouble," Akeno commented.

"Priest," Koneko observed.

"Oh?" Freed exclaimed, brandishing his sword with an insane grin on his face. "A whole band of demons!" He leapt forward, slashing his sword.

_CLASH!_

The sound of metal filled the room as Yuuto jumped in his way and blocked Freed's sword with his own. "Sorry, but he's one of us!" said Yuuto. "I won't let you harm him!"

"Oh, what touching camaraderie for a demon! So what's this, you guys on your way to a game show already? Are you the Devil Rangers? I can feel the heat already! I'm getting turned on! Tell me, what's your deal? He's the pitcher, and you're the catcher?" He stuck his tongue out mockingly.

"... For a priest, that's quite a mouth you've got there ... You must be what they call a 'stray exorcist.'"

"Oh, I'm so _sorry_! It's not like I asked them to kick me out! _Fuck_ the Vatican! But enough about them! Right now, hunting your kind is my only concern!" He was laughing, _really_ enjoying himself.

"People like you are such a pain. Your only pleasure comes from hunting demons … There's nothing more dangerous to us than your kind."

"Don't you start fucking lecturing me, too! That prick over there tried telling me how to do my job when he first got here, and it fucking irritates me! You pests are in no position to be lecturing me!"

"Even demons live by rules," said Akeno. She was smiling, but her eyes were dangerous. Zakaria flashed back to when she had gone to town on Byser the other night, and he found himself hoping she'd do something similar to Freed if only so he could see whether or not his advice had sunk in.

"Oh, what sultry eyes!" Freed said lecherously. "You're killing me! Is this love? No? Murderous intent? I could eat you up!"

"I think that's about enough," said Rias.

"Seriously, this guy's a fucking psycho," Issei commented, having not moved from where the magic circle was.

"I'm sorry, Zakaria," Rias apologised. "I never expected a stray exorcist to show up at a client's house." She looked him over, and her eyes narrowed on his shoulder. "... Zakaria, did he hurt you?"

"Just a scratch," Zakaria brushed off her concern. "I've had worse. Injuries, anyway. If we're talking pain, then I've never known such agony, but I'll get over it."

She gave him a disapproving look at his uncaring tone but didn't say anything. Instead, she turned her attention to Freed and gave him a sharp look. "You've been playing with my servant, I take it?" she said evenly.

"Oh yes, we've been having quite a time!" Freed chirped. "I was going to carve him into itty-bitty pieces, but now that you're here, that plan has gone up in smoke! Guess I'll have to finish that off in my dreams tonight."

A section of furniture behind Freed was vaporised in dark energy that came from Rias. "I never forgive those who harm my servants," she declared, "and I will _never_ tolerate a lowlife like you damaging my possessions."

_... Mental note to self: have a very long talk about that remark later,_ Zakaria thought, slightly angered by what Rias just said.

"President, a fallen angel is on its way," Akeno warned. "We should hurry."

Rias kept her gaze on Freed, contemplating the situation. "… Akeno, we're leaving as soon as we have Zakaria. Prepare to jump."

"Right." Akeno started doing something in the magic circle.

For a moment, it looked like this was going to be over quickly.

Zakaria didn't have that kind of luck.

"Issei?" Asia spoke up for the first time since Zakaria had knocked her out of Freed's way.

Issei blinked at the girl, his face lighting up in recognition. "Asia?" Then it dropped, concerned. "What are you doing here?" He looked at what Akeno was doing with the circle. "H-Hey, wait a second! We need to wait! Prez! We need to bring her with us!"

"I'm afraid only demons can use magic circles," Rias informed him, "and this one is only compatible with members of my Familia."

Koneko had to physically grab Issei to stop him from jumping out of the magic circle and running to Asia. Zakaria saw that he was quite desperate to make sure the girl was all right.

The magic circle began to glow …

"You think I'm going to let you escape!?" Freed declared, charging at them …

… then his sword stopped moving with his arm, and he had all of a split second to glance at it, confused, before the momentum carried his bottom half onwards while his top half was still clutching the sword. This caused him to lose his centre of gravity and fall flat on his ass.

"Za—!" Rias' words were cut short as the magic circle transported her and the others away …

… leaving Zakaria, who had stepped out of the ring, alone in the room with Freed and Asia. He wasted no time in running over to Asia, grabbing her by the hand, and pulling her with him as he ran out of the building. He didn't even use the door. He charged the window, smashed clean through it, and pulled Asia up and onto his back as he started running away as fast as his legs would carry him. Having her on his back was killing his shoulder, but he would put up with it.

"W-What?" Asia asked, bewildered.

"Cannon Fod— Hyoudou seemed pretty desperate to keep you safe and away from the psycho," Zakaria said as he ran. "So I'm getting you out of there."

"Y-You really don't need to …"

"Whatever. I'm doing it, anyway."

Very soon, he could hear something behind and above him. It sounded like the flapping of enormous wings. This was only confirmed for him when large black feathers occasionally drifted down in front of him as he went. He doubted he could outrun them, especially with his shoulder like this, but he was going to try. He had long since given up giving up.

It was only when the fallen angel dropped to the ground several feet in front of him that he stopped.

"I suppose this is what they call 'irony,'" Zakaria said sardonically.

"Yes, I suppose it is," Dohnaseek agreed. "Just put down the girl and walk away and we won't have to fight."

"Sorry, Dohnaseek, but I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Such a shame. I was getting to like you."

"Why does it have to be a shame?" Zakaria asked. "Why did _any_ of what happened tonight have to go down? That guy in there, the guy _your_ guy murdered, he didn't have to die. Did he? What was the point? Why set that psychopath Freed on him? Why the hell would you send someone like this girl with someone like him in the first place?"

Dohnaseek shuffled his feet, uncomfortably. "… I can't tell you," he said after a few seconds.

"Because you don't know?" Zakaria guessed.

Dohnaseek growled. "Enough of this chit-chat! Are you going to give me the girl, or am I going to have to get forceful here!?"

"I'll go back," Asia said meekly, trying to get down from Zakaria's back. "Sir, please, you don't have to—"

"Hush," Zakaria shushed her. "You know what I think, Dohnaseek? I think the reason you're so frustrated right now is that I'm striking nerves. Random acts of murder don't seem like you. You don't _know_ what's going on, do you? You're just here because you were told to be, is that it? Acting like a good little soldier and not questioning orders?"

" _Shut up_!" Dohnaseek shouted, bringing a spear of light into his hands …

… and then coughing and sputtering as dirt was flung into his face seemingly from nowhere. He cringed away, trying to rub it out of his eyes. It only took him a few moments, but that was time enough. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his vision …

… and saw that Zakaria and Asia were gone.

He reached out his senses, trying to find them … but there was nothing. He looked around. Maybe they had taken off running, and he would be able to see them in the distance.

But no.

There was nobody.

"… _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH_!" he yelled in rage.

Meanwhile …

_It sounds like I pissed him off,_ Zakaria thought, trying not to breathe as he ran, with Asia still on his back, through the sewer. He had initially been levitating the both of them through the place, both to move quicker and to avoid making any noise for Dohnaseek to pick up. _I got lucky he didn't see the dirt coming. Even luckier about the sewers being so spacious. Though knowing my luck, it's pretty fifty-fifty whether this is helpful or if there are alligators infesting it or something ..._

Asia, for her part, was also trying to hold her breath, the stink of the sewer having overwhelmed her senses the second they'd entered.

Something wet dripped down Zakaria's face. Blood. His nose was bleeding. It usually didn't happen when he'd used his powers this little, but something was different this time. He suspected it was the light he still had in his system from that shoulder wound Freed had given him.

_Just need to get far enough away to feel safe coming out,_ he thought. _Then I can get us home._

* * *

They must have looked a sight when they finally climbed out of the sewers. Luckily, not that many people saw them, but Zakaria made sure to take routes he knew would be at least relatively alive at night because, as far as he could tell, fallen angels were less likely to try anything if there were witnesses. To be honest, the whole plan he had been formulating in his head relied on Dohnaseek not knowing where he lived, and while he _thought_ that was a safe bet, he wasn't necessarily _sure_.

Still, a man with sewage all over his lower legs walking through town with a teenage nun had turned a few heads.

Zakaria unlocked the door to his apartment. He was about to step inside, but he thought better of it and kicked his shoes and socks off outside the door, picking them up and carrying them in. He would wash these later. He had more, so it wasn't essential. He flicked the lights on as he stepped in. Asia was a bit reluctant as she stepped inside after him. She looked around with bright eyes. She had never been in a place like this before.

Zakaria's phone, which he'd gotten a few days before at the behest of Rias, rang for the fifth time since they'd exited the sewers. Now that they were presumably safe, he answered it.

"What were you thinking!?" Rias demanded as soon as he picked up.

"That Hyoudou wanted that nun to be safe," Zakaria answered.

"… You don't have her with you, do you?" There was a note of concern in her tone that told him that would be a terrible thing.

"No," he lied smoothly. "Couldn't move quick enough. Had to make a run for it solo."

There was a sigh of relief down the phone. "Well, that's something at least. Harbouring a human, especially a member of the church, from the fallen angels would be very bad for us. Count yourself lucky that it didn't work out for you." Her voice softened as she said these next words. "How's the shoulder? I can come over and heal it for you if you like. Or I can have Akeno do it."

"No. I'm just tired right now, I don't want to make a fuss over it."

"That's fine; it can be done while sleeping. It doesn't take—"

"Believe me, Rias, I'm _fine_. It's just a flesh wound."

"… _that's giving you light poisoning_ …" she muttered. Then a sigh. "Fine, have it your way. You're a grown man, and I can't force you. Well, to tell you the truth, I _could_ , but I don't want to be a tyrant over this. Just so long as you're sure you're all right."

"I am."

"Fine."

"How's Cannon Fodder doing? He seemed distressed when you guys left."

"He's fine. He went home not long ago." There was a noise down the phone, and Zakaria could tell from her tone of voice that she was now smiling. "Is that concern I detect in your voice, Zakaria?"

"And why not? I may not be as emotionally receptive as I used to be, but I'm not heartless."

A chuckle. "There's hope for you yet. Good night, Zakaria."

"Good night."

That was the end of it. Now it was Zakaria's turn to make a call. He went into his contacts, found the one he wanted, and dialed.

"Hey, man, you're okay!" Issei said down the phone.

"Cannon Fodder, do you know where this address is?" Zakaria asked, giving Issei his address over the phone.

"Oh, yeah, I know that area. What about it?"

"It's where I live. I need you to get down here. Your nun friend is with me."

"You've got Asia over at your place!?"

"Yes, and I need you to get down here and look after her for a while. Can you do that?"

"Uh … sure, man. I'd be happy to. But why?"

"I need to head out for a bit, and I don't wanna leave her alone. You're her friend, right?"

"Y-Yeah, I am! I was just on my way home, but I'm not there yet, so I'll come straight to your place. Shouldn't take me long on my bike."

"Okay. Oh, and one more thing: not a single _word_ to Rias about this until it's over, okay? If she finds out what's going on, this shit could go south quickly."

"Sure thing, man. See you soon."

"We'll be waiting."

The call ended.

Zakaria turned towards Asia. "Hyoudou is coming," he told her. "I need to change clothes. You wait out here. Look through the fridge, get yourself some food, or whatever. I'll be going out when Hyoudou gets here, and you two will be alone for a while. I hope that's all right."

"Y-Yes, that's fine," Asia said. "Um …"

"What?"

"Your shoulder … I can help you with that if you want."

"I don't exactly have any bandages on-hand, so I doubt that."

"N-No, I mean …" She moved cautiously towards him. He felt no threat from her, so he just let her. "Here …" She held her hands against the exposed wound in his shoulder, and to his hidden surprise, her hands began to glow a bright green. Suddenly, the burning feeling that had been flowing through his veins since he got that cut vanished, and he could feel the skin at his shoulder, stitching itself back together. The whole process only took a few seconds, then Asia's hands stopped glowing, and she took them away. She smiled at him. "There, all better."

He looked at his shoulder, impressed. "… Thanks," he said. "Sacred Gear?"

Asia nodded shyly. "Yes."

"Interesting. Anyway, I'm going to get changed now. Help yourself to anything you want. I'd recommend staying out of the alcohol, though." He walked off towards his bedroom without another word.

* * *

Leaving Issei and Asia alone in the apartment had been a risk in and of itself. Not because the fallen angels might find them – Zakaria was reasonably sure at this point that they didn't know where he lived – but purely because Issei was … well, _Issei_. That girl may have been innocent now, but Zakaria half-expected he would have to clean the sheets in one of the rooms when he got back. Regardless of whether he found any evidence of this or not, he planned on cleaning the place down, either when he got back or in the morning when everything was settled.

_If_ it was settled by then.

The years hadn't taught Zakaria to be optimistic, no matter how sure he was of his plan.

He went to the bar he and Dohnaseek usually met at. He wouldn't go inside since this conversation really couldn't happen around people. Waiting outside was what he planned to do.

As it turned out, he was so right on the money with this plan that no waiting as necessary. Dohnaseek was waiting for _him_.

"demon," he greeted irritably as Zakaria approached him. "I believe you have something of ours."

"No, I don't think so," Zakaria said in return. "I think I have a nun who is her own person, even if she's currently too naive to realise it. Is it her Sacred Gear that has you so desperate to have her back? It's a rather incredible power, I must say."

"Yes. _Our_ power."

"I'm sure you'd like to think so. Back to earlier, what _was_ going on with Freed killing that guy? Did you ever find out?"

"This isn't about that."

"I think it is." Zakaria looked him dead in the eyes. "I think it's very much about that. You had a _doubt_ in your eyes, Dohnaseek. I saw it. That's why I pressed for details. Why did you doubt, Dohnaseek?"

"I didn't dou—"

"Don't try to lie to me. I'm particularly good at spotting it. Now, why?"

"… Because having an exorcist go after a demon's client made no sense," Dohnaseek finally conceded. "Being in this territory is already pushing our luck. Going further and antagonising the ruler of this territory by killing their servants' clients was just stupid. I don't know what Freed was thinking."

"He acted alone?"

"Of _course_ he did. I was on my way there to retrieve the girl, not help him."

"Interesting … and this goes deeper, doesn't it? This isn't the first doubt you've had."

Dohnaseek gave him a look. "What are you, a fucking telepath as well as telekinetic?"

"Not that I know of. Simply good at reading people."

Dohnaseek sighed. "Yeah … you are, aren't you?" He rubbed the bridge of his nose in irritation. "I'm a good soldier. I follow orders. I do what my leader tells me without question. But this time … I _have_ questions. Did you know that Lord Azazel is fascinated by Sacred Gears? It's common knowledge among the Grigori. He never passes up an opportunity to add another Sacred Gear user to our ranks, especially if it's one he's never studied before. But never like _this_. Him wanting us to take that girl's Sacred Gear from her … It just doesn't seem like him."

"Why?" Zakaria asked. "Didn't you just say he wanted Sacred Gears?"

"Taking a Sacred Gear from the user always ends in the user's death," Dohnaseek explained grimly. "Lord Azazel likes people to bring Sacred Gears to our organisation peacefully, which the girl _would_ have. As an exile from the church, she has literally nowhere else to go. Killing her makes absolutely no sense. But I didn't question it; I obeyed. Then _you_ just had to go and bring the doubts I was having to the surface." He clenched his fists at his side.

Zakaria hummed, thinking of something. "And you're _positive_ these orders came from Azazel?" he asked.

"We rarely get our orders directly from the source, but they do come down from him, yeah," said Dohnaseek.

"But you're sure that _these_ orders came down from him?"

"… What are you implying, demon?"

"That someone's trying to pull the wool over your eyes. That maybe you're not following orders from the person you _think_ you are."

"…" Dohnaseek had no answer for that, it seemed.

Zakaria saw his opportunity and pounced on it. "Let's make a deal," he said. "You go and double-check your orders with the Grigori, but don't contact the one who told them to you. You've surely got more than one contact there, right? If I'm right and you're being deceived, I think we can end this peacefully. If I'm wrong and Azazel really did order this … then I'll let you have the girl." This was a bald-faced lie. If Dohnaseek returned with news that these were his real orders, Zakaria would plunge the machete into his heart without thinking for another second about it. "What do you say?"

The silence only lasted a few seconds, but it felt like minutes. "… All right," Dohnaseek said at least. "Fine. It only for my own peace of mind, I'll do it. You wait here, and don't you move a fucking muscle." Dohnaseek walked away and, just before he took the air and flew off somewhere, Zakaria saw him taking a cell phone from his pocket. It still amused him that even supernatural creatures were using human technology to communicate.

Dohnaseek was gone for a while. Zakaria thumbed his machete in its sheath while he waited, ready to make use of it at a moment's notice if Dohnaseek came back with bad news.

Dohnaseek came back after about twenty minutes. He looked pale. "I need you to wait here a little while longer," he said shakily. He wasn't shaking in nervousness, though. That was _rage_. Zakaria was pretty sure he knew which sin Dohnaseek fell for. "I need to go tell the others we've been made to look like fucking idiots."

He didn't even bother getting out of eyeshot of the human establishment to take to the sky this time.

* * *

When Dohnaseek returned, there were three other fallen angels with him. One of them, Zakaria recognised as Raynare. She was sporting quite a scar on her side from where he'd stabbed her back when he'd first entered this universe. The other two, he didn't know. They were both women.

The one that caught his attention first looked like she might have been a little older than him. She was a tall and buxom woman with brown eyes and long, navy blue hair that obscured her right eye. She wore a maroon, trench coat-like top with a full collar, a matching miniskirt, and black heeled shoes. The trench coat top was open at her chest, giving view to her breasts and cleavage and showing that she wasn't wearing anything else beneath it. She also wore a gold necklace around her neck.

The other was significantly younger-looking. She was a small girl with blonde hair styled into twin-tails and blue eyes. She wore Gothic Lolita attire, which consisted of a black Lolita dress with white frills, a large black bow on the front, and a green jewel embedded on the collar, white thigh-high socks, and black shoes. She also wore a large black bow on top of her hair.

"… I guess I should consider myself _lucky_ you slipped past my defenses and interfered in our business," Raynare grumbled after a few moments once they'd landed. She looked like she wanted to be angrier, to bite his head off for something, but she appeared too dejected to muster up the motivation.

They _all_ did.

"I suppose we should thank you for making us realise we were being deceived," the blue-haired bombshell said in an even tone.

The blonde one scoffed bitterly. "Yeah, thanks for making us realise someone was making _fools_ of us," she seethed. She seemed particularly angry for some reason.

"As you can see, none of us are taking the news particularly well," Dohnaseek said, far friendlier than the others were being. "I … I offer my sincerest thanks for making me see sense. I think this experience has taught me the merit of questioning orders I find suspect if nothing else."

"Where's the girl?" Raynare asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Zakaria asked, suspicious.

"Lord Azazel wants her to come with us, if possible, though only if she wants to. We're supposed to make her the offer and see what she says. I can't imagine how it'll matter at this point, given everything that happened with _Freed_ , but orders are orders even if I already know we'll be leaving empty-handed."

Zakaria noted how her voice got angrier when she said Freed's name. "Did something happen with Freed?" he asked.

"That jackass ran off the second word got around to the exorcists that we were going home to report on everything that happened here," the blonde one explained. "Prick was probably in on the whole damn thing."

"Which I assume would explain why he ran off to kill someone with dealings with demons?"

"You assume right," the blue-haired one confirmed.

"We're wasting time," Raynare growled impatiently. "Just take us to the girl so we can make the offer, she can refuse it, and we can all go home, and everyone can be disappointed in us."

Zakaria detected some bitterness there but didn't pry. "I'll take you there now," he said. "Just follow me."

* * *

"I should probably warn you," Zakaria said as they reached his floor of the apartment building, "that Hyoudou is also here. So, try not to act too hostile. I'm not sure he has the best opinion of you." If he thought he and Asia walking through town together before had turned a few heads, it had _nothing_ on what walking through town with the fallen angels had done to passers-by. Two of these women were wearing close to nothing at all, and one looked startlingly like a child. People had given Zakaria and Dohnaseek some peculiar looks as they'd passed them by.

"Like I give a shit what he thinks of me," Raynare scoffed. "I just want to get this over with."

"Was killing him another one of those orders you followed without questioning?"

She didn't have a response to that. Mittelt (he had learned her name, as well as Kalawarner's, on the way over) sniggered a little.

As they got to the door to his apartment, Zakaria once again contemplated whether or not it might have been worth it to call ahead and explain the situation to Issei. He came to the same conclusion he did before: calling Issei to inform him that he was bringing four fallen angels to the apartment, including his ex-girlfriend, would have probably just freaked him out and made him call Rias down. Issei would still freak out the second this door opened, he realised, but at least if he was in the room with him, he could stop him from calling for help when they were so close to finishing this whole thing off with only minimal hostility between those involved.

He turned his key in the lock and walked in, followed by the fallen angels.

Issei glanced over as he entered. "Hey, man. How'd it go wi— _What the sweet fuck are THEY doing here_!?" It was explicitly noticing Raynare that prompted that response.

"Calm down, Cannon Fod—"

"Why would you bring the fallen angels here!? What are you even _doing_ with them!? What was the point of saving Asia from them if you're just gonna—" Issei suddenly found himself unable to speak, courtesy of Zakaria bringing a hand up and pinching his thumb and index finger together, telekinetically pinching Issei's lips together and shutting him up.

"Fucking, zip it, Cannon Fodder," he said. "Now, if you'll just let me explain—"

"Actually, allow me," Raynare said, stepping forward. She swallowed as she looked between Issei and Asia, who had been awkwardly standing off to the side this whole time, and bowed her head. "I'm … _sorry_." The word "sorry" was spoken through gritted teeth; that swallow had clearly been for her pride. "I apologise. My love and loyalty for my leader blinded me to facts about my orders which I should have picked up on sooner, and I nearly hurt both of you because of that. There was never a need to involve either of you in any of what was to happen. It was my own short-sightedness that caused all of this, for which I am sorry."

"…" Anything else Issei had to say suddenly got stuck in his throat. But make no mistake, he _still_ had things to say. You could see it in his eyes.

"… I forgive you," Asia said quietly. She smiled so pure-heartedly it came dangerously close to moving Zakaria's heart. _Close_ , but, as they say, no cigar. "Even knowing what you were planning on doing, you still gave me somewhere to stay after I was e-exiled. It must have taken you a lot to apologise like this."

"… Asia might be too nice to hold a grudge," Issei said in a low voice, his fists clenched at his sides, "but _I'm_ not. You may not have done what you wanted to with me, but you still hurt me. I worked really hard planning that date, you know? I wanted it to be really special. I wanted you to have a good time."

"Do you expect a 'thank you?'" Raynare asked him. "I said, I'm sorry, and I mean it. I didn't need to drag you into all this the way I did. But every other word I said about you and that date still stands. Hold a grudge if you want. I apologised, so anything you choose to feel from here on out is no concern of mine. Take it someone who gives a shit. If I was ordered to do that all over again, real orders from my beloved Lord Azazel, then I would. I'm just sorry I was stupid enough to let someone _trick me_ into spending the most boring Sunday of my life with you."

"As healthy as it is to get emotions out into the open," Kalawarner interjected before this could escalate too far, "we did come here for a _reason_ , Raynare."

"We have real orders from Lord Azazel this time," Dohnaseek explained. "He would like Asia Argento to return to the Grigori with us, but only if she wishes it. We came here to offer her a place with us. We are to stress that this is an _offer_ , not an _order_. You are free to take whichever path you wish, and we will not argue."

"But really, what else are you gonna choose?" Mittelt asked with a smug smile. She gestured at herself. "What could be better than this awesomeness?"

Kalawarner bonked her on the head.

"I …" Asia started, then paused. She looked around at everyone, though her gaze lingered longest on Issei. Zakaria wondered what the two had been talking about while he was out. "… I want to stay here, in this town," Asia decided. "With Issei. He's my f-friend."

"As you wish," Raynare said with a slight huff in her voice. Even pretty much knowing the outcome in advance, the thought of going back to the Grigori empty-handed clearly displeased her.

"Well, now that this is over with," Zakaria said, "Cannon Fodder, take your new girlfriend and get out of my apartment."

"W-What?" Issei spluttered.

"Did I stutter?" Zakaria asked. "You've gotta have a spare room at your place, don't you?"

"W-Well, yeah, b-but I—"

"Then it shouldn't be a problem. Someone can bring Asia's stuff down in the morning. It's too late for that shit now, and I think we all need to rest."

"Dude, what am I gonna tell my parents?"

"You're a sexual deviant; I'm sure they'll reach a reasonable conclusion themselves."

" _I don't want them to think that_!"

"I … can stay with Issei?" Asia asked, hope filling her eyes.

Zakaria looked at Issei pointedly. "Can you really say no to that face?" he asked.

Issei sighed. "No."

"Then, off you go, kids. Remember to use protection."

Issei gave him a flat look, not even prepared to argue at this point. He just sighed. "Come on, Asia," he said. "I'll take you to my place. You can stay in the spare room."

"O-Okay," Asia said, nervously but with a smile lighting up her face. The two of them walked towards the door, which Issei opened so they could leave. Before stepping out, though, Asia turned back and faced Zakaria. "Thank you, sir! Thank you so much for helping me!"

For the briefest, most beautiful of seconds, Zakaria Holland's bitter heart warmed at the earnest smile on her face. "It … It was nothing," he said.

"No, it wasn't. Thank you."

Then they left, leaving Zakaria alone in his apartment with four fallen angels.

"When do you guys have to leave?" Zakaria asked them.

"Not until morning," Raynare told him. She growled in her throat. "For fuck's sake, I can't believe this! Not only was I made to look an absolute _fool_ , but a demon who did _this shit_ ," she gestured at the scar on her side, "to me was the one who made me realise it." She slumped. "I'll never gain the respect of the others if this keeps up …"

"Sure, you will," Mittelt said. "You hang out with me! You'll be in with the popular fallen angels in no time!"

"Mittelt, you've been saying that to all of us for about a century," Dohnaseek pointed out in a deadpan voice.

"I-It could still happen!"

"I think we're all a little tense," Kalawarner said, stretching her arms out above her head. "I say we all just try to relax for the night and face the music with renewed energy in the morning."

Zakaria sighed and walked over to his fridge, opening it and grabbing a beer. "If it's relaxing you guys want, help yourself to the booze," he said, cracking the beer open and chugging down a few swallows' worths. "It sounds like you could all do with a drink."

The fallen angels all looked at him, looked at each other, then looked at him with renewed smiles.

* * *

A dozen or so drinks each later …

The fallen angels were sitting around Zakaria's living area, listening to him speak. It was a story Dohnaseek said he wanted to hear back when they first met in that bar.

"So, let me get this straight," Dohnaseek said, interrupting Zakaria's story. "A family of _zombies_ just randomly showed up?"

"Yes," said Zakaria. "I sometimes forget that's weird for other people."

* * *

More drinks later …

They were still listening with rapt attention, though anyone seeing this from the outside would say Kalawarner was the most invested in the story, seeing as she had taken to hanging off of Zakaria's arm, which she was holding between her tits. In truth, now that she'd loosened up after the bad news, she was showing off the sin that made her fall.

"Mad fuckin' scientists?" Mittelt questioned. "You sure you're not spoutin' bullshit?"

"I am not," said Zakaria, continuing on.

* * *

Yet more drinks later …

"How many of those fucking things _were_ there?" Raynare asked him. She was now directly next to him, on the opposite side to Kalawarner. She kept passing glares at her that Kalawarner seemed slightly amused by if anything.

"No clue," Zakaria said. "Didn't bother counting. I just kept killing them."

"And all that blood was on your machete when you … when you …" Raynare started to look green. "Oh god, I'm gonna threw up …" She took off, running towards the bathroom.

Everybody laughed.

* * *

_Even more_ drinks later …

Mittelt was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Dohnaseek had fallen to the floor at some point and hadn't bothered getting up.

Zakaria was trapped between two very buxom fallen angels with no idea what was happening. He was too involved telling the story.

"And that'sh when I shtabbed the unicorn," he slurred. "Cut it all open and itsh gutsh shpilled all over the plache."

* * *

After the next few drinks, their brains stopped forming new memories.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it, I've transferred everything I've got for this so far from Fanfiction to here. I hope you're all enjoying yourselves.


	4. Chapter 4

For the third time since entering this world, Zakaria Holland woke up in a surprising position. The first time, when the surprise had been that he was still alive, hadn't been enjoyable; the second time, when he had woken up with a new apartment, he had been relatively indifferent to the fact; this time, the third time, he found himself in a position most heterosexual men would have _killed_ to be in.

But the hangover ruined it for him.

The first thing he registered when he woke up was the sheer _agony_ his head was in. He could not only hear his heartbeat, but he could feel each beat vibrating through his skull and rattling his brain around. The inside of his mouth was dryer than a camel's cunt. He opened his eyes for a second and immediately experienced a moment of severe vertigo, as well as a burning sensation making his headache worse, and so he closed them again. He could feel himself drenched, head to toe, in sweat. All were symptoms he was familiar with, having experienced them after many depression-fueled drinking sessions, and these days, whenever he went without drinking for a few hours or so.

There was one feeling, however, that he did not mentally associate with having a hangover: A weight on either side of his body, on his arms. He could feel flesh where he was being weighed down.

_Oh no …_ he found himself thinking as he once again opened his eyes in a bid to see.

Raynare and Kalawarner were both in bed with him. _Naked_. Just as naked as he was, and curled up against him on either side of his body.

Now that he was concentrating, he could feel an additional ache on his body, this one in his testicles. This one was not a bad ache. It was an exquisite ache. It was the ache he had felt every time he'd had sex in the past, the hurt that told him that his balls had seen some use very recently.

_Going off on my own to try and end things peacefully is one thing, but I wonder if I'll get into trouble for fucking these two?_ he wondered. He was less thrilled about this than others might have been, but he hadn't been obsessed with sex since he was a teenager, and a sense of pattern recognition he had honed over years of hardship usually warned him _against_ one-night stands. _Nothing I can do about it now. Might as well just enjoy the knowledge that it happened. Might be able to mess with Cannon Fodder later._

For now, he faced a different problem: How to get out of bed.

He contemplated this issue as Kalawarner shifted against him, letting out a small groan as she began to wake up. Her leg brushed against his, and the feel of her thigh rubbing up and down his leg caused a reaction downstairs that made it clear his body was willing to go again. _No,_ he denied it. _Not while I feel this much like shit. Just no._ Raynare began stirring on the other side of him, only making the problem worse. A small part of him wished he could return to an earlier part of his life when he would have appreciated this much more.

Kalawarner was the first to crack her beautiful eyes open. She smiled alluringly, though Zakaria could tell from her eyes that she was also suffering from a hangover. "Good morning, lover," she said, then proceeded to plant her lips on his.

He melted into it immediately. _"Embodiment of temptation" is right,_ he thought, reflecting on something Dohnaseek had once told him about fallen angel women during their drinking sessions. Even given Zakaria's aversion to letting people get close, including something as simple as sex, he knew he would give in to this woman. Even without the alcohol in his system, she could have had him if she wanted him. That sort of allure wasn't something he'd encountered before. Where he was from, anything that could tempt someone like this came across as too sinister for it to work on him.

He was even kissing back without realising it.

"Kala, would you knock it the fuck off?" Raynare groaned from his other side. She wasn't hiding her hangover anywhere near as well as Kalawarner, though that annoyance may have had nothing to do with the headache.

Kalawarner smirked and pulled away from Zakaria, making sure to remove her tongue from his mouth _after_ their lips separated so that Raynare could see it. "Not getting jealous, I hope, Ray?" she asked teasingly.

Raynare scoffed. "Hardly. Last night was about taking out my frustrations on something, nothing else. I just don't wanna see you grinding up on him like that with my head feeling like such shit. You will _not_ blue bean me!"

"Well, if you're not interested, then get out." Kalawarner gently took Zakaria's face in her hands and moved her face closer. "I could go for an early morning quickie."

Just before her lips could touch his again, he felt another set of hands on his head, much rougher, and was quickly dragged away from Kalawarner. His head hit something soft, and a nipple entered his vision. His head was against one of Raynare's breasts, and his face was quite close to the other one. He once again reflected on the fact that he would probably be enjoying this if it weren't for the hangover.

"I said, stop that!" Raynare growled. There was a pause. Zakaria looked up; she was looking down at him with red in her face and a scowl. The second they made eye contact, he was flung away. He topped off of the bed, which caused his skull to feel like his brain was bouncing off the walls inside of it. "G-Get out so we can get dressed!" Raynare ordered, a small shake in her voice hidden amidst the aggression.

"I don't mind him watchi—"

" _Shut the fuck up, Kala!_ You, out, now."

Zakaria stood up and put on a pair of boxer shorts he found on the floor while he was down there. "I'll do breakfast," he said, in too much discomfort to comment on the fact that he was being kicked out of his own bedroom.

He walked out of his bedroom door and almost immediately tripped over an laid out Dohnaseek on his floor.

"I'm pretty sure there's a spare room in here," he said as he got up.

" _I was trying to get to it when I passed out,_ " came Dohnaseek's muffled voice as he spoke with his face down on the floor. " _Got the wrong room first, saw you guys getting busy. Left you to your privacy. Lost consciousness just after I closed the door._ "

"Where's Mittelt?"

" _Couch. She passed out not long after you three went in there._ "

"Okay. You want breakfast?"

" _Please, and thank you._ "

Zakaria walked over to the kitchen and got the grill running. He grabbed some bacon from the fridge and immediately started cooking it. Bacon and egg sandwiches were the best hangover cure he had ever come across. As he put the bacon on, he spied Mittelt lying on the couch and briefly contemplated leaving her asleep so he could save food. He decided against it.

"Rise and shine, underage drinkers," he called from the kitchen area.

"Fuck you," she groaned from the couch. "I'll have you know I'm two hundred and seven years old."

Zakaria just allowed himself a little smirk, which he immediately mentally smacked himself for. He did his best to block his fellow heavy drinkers from his mind, for the time being, just letting them all start their recoveries, and got on with making breakfast.

* * *

The sandwiches helped. Zakaria remained focused on his food even as they were eating, trying not to be vulnerable. Sex always made things dangerous, even one-night stands he couldn't even remember because he was trashed out of his mind. It was still difficult not to form an attachment, and he didn't want attachments. Not at all. As the fallen angels had left just after breakfast, Dohnaseek had patted him on the shoulder, Mittelt had thanked him in a roundabout way by telling him she was glad to have honoured him with her presence, Kalawarner had once again slipped her tongue down his throat, and Raynare had half-scowled at him with a red face. She had partially brushed past him on her way out, and he had to wonder whether that was an accident.

After they had left, he did his best to clean up the place. It was kind of a wreck after the night before. He knew he probably needed a shower, but first, he had to go out and restock on alcohol. By the time he had finished cleaning the apartment, he was already itching for another one. He was about to shower, having already drunk his first alcoholic beverage of the day, when he got a text from Rias. It was not a happy text. It demanded his presence immediately, and not being one to wait for moods to get worse before facing the music, he immediately went down. He would shower when he got home.

He stepped into the magic circle, let the light consume him, and appeared in the clubroom.

Everyone was there, even Asia, which was a surprise.

Rias was glaring at him. He just stared back.

"Well?" Rias asked.

"Well, what?" he asked in return.

"Don't play stupid with me."

"I'm not. I know what this is about; I'm just waiting for a specific question."

"You want specific? Okay. How about, what made you think it was a good idea to negotiate with the fallen angels on your own?"

"I don't know about good, but it was an idea, and I knew you would disapprove. But I knew things you didn't. I paid attention when I was chased with the nun. You don't live through everything I have without being observant, and there was doubt in Dohnaseek's eyes." He shrugged. "It seemed simple enough to me. If it hadn't worked out, I probably would have just killed him."

Rias blinked at him. "'Dohnaseek?'" she questioned. "You're on a name-to-name basis with the fallen angels now?"

"I wouldn't say we're friends if that's what you're implying. We simply had the same idea of what to do in our spare time and ended up seeing a lot of each other."

"Does that apply to the women, too?" Koneko asked suddenly. Her nose was wrinkled up in disgust. "You stink of fallen angels and alcohol. It smells like you had them all over you. Pervert."

_I take back what I thought about liking her,_ he decided. He tried to hang onto that pang of annoyance he felt towards her. Despite her cold demeanor, Koneko was endearing in a strange way. It helped that her observations of Issei often matched his own. He couldn't go down that rabbit hole. "The alcohol came first," he said. "I don't remember most of the night's events, but yes, going by the state I woke up in this morning, I spent the night with some fallen angel ladies."

"Lucky prick," Issei growled.

Zakaria tilted his head. "Funny," he said. "Usually, when you sleep with someone's ex, they're annoyed in an entirely different way."

If Issei looked annoyed before, he looked _apoplectic_ after hearing that.

"Please stop antagonising him," Rias told Zakaria firmly. "What you did was incredibly stupid and could have easily backfired on you."

"So …?" said Zakaria.

"'So?'" Rias asked, baffled. "'So,' you could have _died_. If they hadn't decided to play nice, you could have been gone for good."

"I'm okay with that. I think the fact that you're so against negotiation speaks more about you guys than you'd like to hear. Maybe the real reason things are so tense between the factions is the clear lack of diplomacy."

The look on Rias' face made Zakaria think he was about to die again.

"… Nobody got hurt, so didn't he do something good?" Asia spoke up curiously from where she was sitting nervously beside Issei. Everyone's attention turned to her, and she blushed. "And I'm free now. I can stay with Issei … I'm very grateful for what Mr. Zakaria has done for me."

_I wouldn't say I did it_ for _you,_ Zakaria thought, but he kept that thought to himself. If the nun wanted to bail him out, then who was he to stop her?

It seemed to take Rias' attention off of him, anyhow. She turned to Asia and took on a far more pleasant demeanour. "I suppose when you look at it from that angle," she conceded. Zakaria thought there might have been a lie in there, but if there was, Rias was very good at lying. "Speaking of which, we can make accommodations for you if you'd like. Unless you want to stay at Issei's house, of course, in which case I can help make the revelation easier on his parents."

"Th-Thank you," Asia said, a tad overwhelmed by the generosity. "I … I want to stay with Issei."

"Of course. If you have any belongings, I can make arrangements to have them moved in while I … _persuade_ Issei's parents to let you stay. In the meantime, though, I have something I'd like to ask you. You are aware that Issei is a demon, yes? You understand this about him?"

"Y-Yes."

"And you're all right with that?"

Asia gave a firmer nod. "Yes," she said, with more confidence. "Issei is my friend, even if he is a demon."

Rias smiled. "That's nice to hear. In which case, if you want to be with him more, there is another option open to you. How would you feel about joining us?"

_So that's her game,_ Zakaria observed. _A recruitment pitch, huh? She's a sly one. I'll give her that. Then again, I suppose she_ is _a demon._

"U-Um …" Asia didn't know what to say.

"There's no need for you to answer right away," Rias assured her. "It's just something for you to consider." She looked around at the others. "Now that all that's taken care of, it's time to get to work, everyone." She looked at Zakaria specifically. " _You_ take a shower first. It's just in the other room. I don't want you going to a client's house stinking of alcohol."

"Yes, ma'am," Zakaria said, then walked off towards the shower room without another word.

When Rias next spoke, it was only after Zakaria had gone in and started showering. "Akeno, go to his apartment and grab some of his clothes," she said. "Leave them in there for him to change into when he's done."

"Yes, President," Akeno said. She sounded a little too excited at the prospect of catching a glimpse of Zakaria in the shower. She immediately left to get the clothes.

Then Rias turned to Koneko. She had a worrying hunch that she needed to check. "Koneko, answer me honestly," she said. "Is this the only time you've smelt alcohol on him?"

"No," said Koneko. "He always smells of alcohol, at least a little. It's just worse today than usual. A lot worse."

Rias sighed. Between the casual talk of his death, his apparent apathy towards her orders, quite literally sleeping with the enemy, and the alcoholism she was becoming sure he had, Zakaria Holland was proving to be quite a handful.

* * *

Akeno entering the room midway through his shower to bring him some new clothes had been a surprise, but Zakaria honestly didn't care whether she peeked through the curtain or not. A small part of him had wanted her to, but he squashed it down, recognising it as the result of his lapse the night before. He had given in to his sex drive in a drunken state, and now what little libido he had was rearing its head and trying to get him going. It wouldn't work. He finished showering, got dressed, and went into the magic circle without acknowledging anyone. Not speaking unless he was told to was an excellent rule to follow. He wouldn't let confusing feelings about the night before close the gap.

The light of the magic circle died down as he appeared in the client's house.

_No blood or dead client's this time,_ Zakaria thought as he looked around. _This should be an improvement on last time, then._ It didn't take him long to find his client. Zakaria was starting to notice something of a pattern with people not directly tied in with the demon stuff – they looked, for lack of a better term, normal. Average by his home universe's standards, anyway. His summoner this time was a young girl with light brown hair with a side parting on the right and black eyes. She was dressed modestly in a white T-shirt and a pair of jeans. She was also wearing a mask over her nose and mouth. She was holding a duster in one hand.

"Hello," said Zakaria. "I'm the demon you requested. How may I assist you?"

Her eyes were wide. "… I can't believe it worked," she said, her voice muffled slightly through the mask. "I thought that flier Dad brought home was just crap, but here I am wanting help, and it worked …" She shook her head. "M-My name is Megumi," she introduced herself, bowing. "It's nice to meet you."

"Yes, you, too," Zakaria said dismissively. "What was it you wanted help with?"

"Oh, right!" She took the mask off her face so she could speak better, not that it was necessary. "Well, me and Dad are cleaning up the house for visitors. It's our ancestral home, and it's garnered a lot of interest because of how long it's been standing. Dad's letting this lady stay with us because she's so interested in the house, and they started dating recently. She kind of gives me the creeps, though, to be honest. They're out now, so I'm stuck by myself. It was getting kinda tiring, so I just kept thinking I could use some help, and here you are."

" _Help cleaning the house" would have done fine,_ Zakaria thought, slightly annoyed. "Okay, then," he said aloud. "Just point me to what you need cleaning."

"Sure, just follow me."

Zakaria would have made some comment, probably internal, on the fact that she was taking the whole demon thing very well, but in truth, he wanted to be done and out of this house as soon as possible. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it felt like the building was somehow _watching_ him. One didn't live through all that Zakaria had without learning to trust their gut, and his was telling him to get the hell out of dodge as soon as possible.

Nevertheless, he did his job as well as he could. He didn't want to annoy Rias further by underperforming on a contract because the client's house gave him the creeps.

* * *

Apart from Rias scrutinising him now and then, things went back to normal over the next few days. Zakaria hated that. Referring to anything as "normal" implied a routine, and the last thing he wanted to do was get comfortable.

He transported into the clubroom from his apartment and was greeted by the image of Issei having his face healed by Asia. It was difficult to tell what exactly had happened at this point in the healing process, but he saw what vaguely looked like a bruise disappearing as he entered. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"The pervert got what he deserved," Koneko answered before Issei could.

"And that's all I need to know," Zakaria said. He moved and sat down on the sofa. "What's this? Cannon Fodder's fifth near-death experience this week?"

"Why are you so …?" Rias sighed in astonishment. It was the first time in a few days she'd been irritated with Issei rather than Zakaria.

"I got too carried away," Issei said, slumping.

"You're free to look at me getting changed whenever," Yuuto commented.

"Shut uuuuuup!" Issei shouted immediately. "How can I enjoy watching a guy getting changed!? I can't even enjoy watching a girl with an undeveloped body!"

"Undeveloped …?" Koneko said dangerously.

Zakaria smirked to himself. Yuuto was more giant a troll than anyone could have imagined. Either that or he was gay. Zakaria didn't honestly care which; he just found Issei's discomfort amusing. The fact that Koneko looked ready to kick the crap out of him again was a fun bonus.

"Issei," Asia said, somehow managing a chastising tone despite her gentle voice. "You shouldn't be peeping at girls getting changed … I … if you wanted to see naked women that much … I can …"

Zakaria fixed Issei with a glare that delivered the message "Don't you fucking dare." Issei and Asia were clearly interested in each other, but he hoped that even someone as perverted as Issei would see that Asia needs to be wooed slowly and steadily. She was so innocent that it was _sad_. It was Zakaria's opinion that she needed to learn to gain the necessary life skills the church had denied her, but that didn't mean he would be thrilled with the idea of Issei jumping directly into the sex part.

Fortunately, the glare seemed unnecessary, as Issei's first reaction was to deny her. "No, no!" he exclaimed. "You don't have to push yourself, Asia! I-I mean, I _want_ to, but that's not it!"

"That's enough," Rias cut in gently. "It's time we got down to business. Today, Issei, Zakaria, we'll be getting you two your familiars."

"Familiars …?" Issei questioned.

"This isn't gonna be some sort of witchcraft thing, is it?" Zakaria asked.

"The concept is similar," Rias admitted. "They're like assistants. That job you two did when you first became demons, delivering the fliers? That's something your familiars will be doing for you." She lifted her arm and held her palm upwards. There was a flash of crimson light, and a small, red bat appeared over her hand, flapping its wings. "This is my familiar."

"These ones are mine," said Akeno. A series of small, impish creatures appeared around her.

"This is Shiro," Koneko said. There was a small, white kitten laying in her lap. It was adorable.

"And mine is—"

"You don't have to tell me," Issei cut Yuuto off.

"You are so cold," Yuuto responded with a bitter smile. A small bird appeared on his shoulder, anyway.

Rias began speaking again as her familiar started flying around Zakaria and Issei's heads. "A familiar is a basic for demons. They can help their masters; they can be used for information transmission; they can be used for persisting, and so on. You two also need one since it can be used for adapting to certain situations." She patted Issei on the cheek.

The magic circle on the floor started glowing.

"President, the preparations are done," Akeno said.

Rias smiled. "Good. Now, let's go get your familiars. I'm sorry, Asia, but you will be unable to accompany us for this trip."

"Th-That's fine," Asia said, pouting a bit at being separated from Issei. "Good luck, everyone!"

The group stepped into the magic circle and teleported away.

* * *

When the glow of the magic circle went away, they were standing in a forest.

"Welcome to the Familiar Forest," Rias said. "Today, you two will be getting your familiars here."

Zakaria was on edge, though that was nothing different from usual. The last time he had been in a forest … well, it had been on an alien planet, and he was being hunted like an animal. _The Most Dangerous Game_ on steroids. A small part of him felt some amusement at the implication that he might get to use his machete for the purpose it was manufactured for, to chop his way through the forest.

The place felt pretty ominous. His demon eyesight was the only reason he could see a thing in here, for the trees were growing so thickly, so tightly together that it was blocking any of the moonlight from reaching them. It was cold, too. Cold and dark. Not a good combination.

"Gotta catch 'em all!"

Zakaria swung around, his machete drawn, and swung on instinct.

"Zakaria, no!" Rias shouted.

He managed to stop his swing just in time. It was a mere inch from the man's throat. The grin on the man's face dropped and became a look of shock and fear, and he swallowed when he saw how close he had come to biting it. He was a middle-aged man wearing clothes _way_ too young for him: a white vest, reddish-brown shorts, a grey jacket tied around his waist by the sleeves, a cap worn backwards on his head with a tuft of red hair sticking out from the front, fingerless gloves, and a backpack. The man's look screamed either "never grew up" or "mid-life crisis," and for the life of him, Zakaria couldn't tell which.

"You might want to think a bit more carefully about sneaking up on people in the future," Zakaria said unapologetically as he withdrew the machete.

"…" The man made some funny noises in his throat, then cleared it. "I … I'll keep that in mind," he said nervously. He took a deep breath and the grin he initially had returned. "My name is Zatouji of Madara Town! I'm a demon in training, aiming to become a Familiar Master!"

"These are the two I spoke to you about," Rias said to him, gesturing at Issei and Zakaria.

Zatouji observed them and hummed. "A dull-looking boy and a _terrifying_ man," he summed up. "Okay! Leave it to me! I can help you catch any familiar!"

"Issei, Zakaria, this man is a professional in terms of familiars," Rias informed them. "If we're going to get you familiars, you'll want to follow his advice. Okay?"

"Yes," Issei confirmed.

"He looks more like a professional hipster to me, but sure, whatever," said Zakaria.

"Now, what type of familiars do you desire?" Zatouji asked. He was either completely ignoring Zakaria's remark or was too intimidated to say what he thought of it. "Strong? Fast? Or maybe something poisonous?"

"I don't care," Zakaria said flippantly. "Just give me something."

"I … wouldn't say it quite like that," said Issei, "but I don't know either. What would you recommend?"

Zatouji smiled at their responses and took out something that looked like a catalogue. He flipped through the pages until he came to a specific one, then showed them. "This is what I recommend! One of the Dragon Kings, Chaos Karma Dragon Tiamat! It's a legendary Dragon, and she's the only female among the Dragon Kings! No demon has ever managed to make her their familiar! She's said to be as strong as a Satan!"

" _A" Satan?_ Zakaria thought. _As in, there are more than one?_

"Th-That doesn't look like a familiar!" Issei protested. "That's like the final boss or something! What, are you trying to throw me into the final dungeon right at the beginning!?"

"I think it's an excellent idea," said Rias. "A servant of mine needs nothing less than the best."

"It's impossible, Prez! That thing will eat me alive!"

"It's just your imagination," Yuuto commented. "I'm sure you can do it."

"Shut up, Kibaaaaaaa! You go and hunt it if you're so fucking confident!" He took a deep breath and addressed Zatouji. "I don't want a familiar like that. Are there any that are friendlier and easier to catch?"

Zatouji laughed. "I see! Then how about this one? The hydra!" He showed off an illustration of a serpent with about five heads. There were skulls on the page, too, and a warning about poison. "This one is amazing! It has deadly poison! There are no demons in the world who can withstand the venom of the hydra! _And_ it's immortal! They're super aggressive and are even known to turn on their masters! See? Pretty awesome, right?"

"I think I want that one," Zakaria said, perking up at "even known to turn on their masters."

"Don't even _joke_ about that," Rias admonished him.

"Who's joking?"

Rias sighed at him, shaking her head in disapproval. "Granted, it _would_ make a useful familiar if you're powerful enough to tame it," she admitted. "Though just know that I approve of your choice, but _not_ the reason you chose it. If I recall correctly, there's one deep in the forest … we'd probably be able to make it back by this evening …"

"I don't want some monster that's more powerful than me!" Issei argued.

Zatouji sighed. "This boy sure is full of specifications," he said. "Then, what would you prefer?"

"Aren't there any cute familiars? Like, ones that look like cute girls?"

Zakaria smacked himself in the forehead.

"You newbies don't understand _anything_ ," Zatouji groaned. "Listen to me: you have to catch strong familiars. All familiars have different abilities. If you are trying to become a Familiar Master like me, then you have to catch the same one several times, then pick the strongest male and female among them. You have the two breed so that they'll create something even stronger than they are. And also—"

"You're just a glorified animal breeder, aren't you?" Zakaria asked.

* * *

"Listen up," Zatouji said as they approached a body of water. "Elementals gather around this lake." The water of the lake was pure and sparkling, untouched by the pollution that tainted the human world. At Zatouji's urging, the group settled down in some shadows, trying to remain unseen. "The water elementals, the Undines, don't show themselves in front of others," he stated his reasoning. "They have pure hearts and beautiful bodies. Just the sort of thing you're after, boy."

"Please don't fulfil his perverse desires so easily," Zakaria said in a deadpan.

"At least I didn't screw the fallen angels," Issei bit back.

"You're just jealous Raynare never let you have a go."

Issei scoffed. "At this point, I wouldn't do it with that cold-hearted bitch if you _paid_ me."

"Wow. He has some standards, after all."

Issei ignored that one. "Say, Prez … since it's my familiar, I can do anything I want with it, right?"

"Yes, you can do as you like," Rias confirmed. "It will be your familiar, after all."

_I do not like the use of the word "it" here,_ Zakaria thought. He had noticed a few times that demons tended to dehumanise people. He didn't think it was something Rias was doing _knowingly_ , but there was a clear divide between demons and those subservient to them, it seemed. _I'd better work my way up and out of servitude as fast as I can,_ he decided.

"Look, look," Zatouji said, getting their attention. "The lake is glowing. The Undines are coming."

He was right. The lake was glowing. And very soon, out of hit walked a person. Sparkling blue hair and exotic green skin made for quite a pleasant-looking creature … It was just a shame about the body. These women looked ready to go ten rounds with Mike Tyson. Insane biceps, calves thicker than most _people_ , abs you could grind meat on, and scars all over her body. She looked like she would be good to have on your side in a scrape but definitely wasn't what Issei had been imagining.

That was the fact that amused Zakaria greatly.

"That is an Undine," Zatouji said, confirming Issei's fears.

"No, no, no!" Issei said in denial. "No matter how you look at it, that is a martial artist in training! Look at those biceps! They'd _destroy_ me! That thing could probably conquer the world with just its _fists_!"

"They have to be," said Zatouji. "They're always fighting each other for control over the territory, at least when there's more than one around. That's pretty much all of the bodies of water with them in here. I've never seen one in an environment where it's the only one … hmm, that could be quite an interesting study … Anyway, if they aren't strong, then they don't get the lake. The world of the elementals is also about power. That one looks particularly strong, so I recommend that one of you catches it. A water elemental specialising in combat doesn't seem so bad."

"I would," said Zakaria, "but I think that would break Cannon Fodder's mind."

"I don't need that!" Issei said, shaking his head rapidly to shake the image of the Undine from his head.

"But it's a girl like you wanted," Zatouji argued. "And it's got quite a lot of potential."

"I don't want to hear that!" Issei wallowed in self-pity for a while.

"Look, another one just arrived," Akeno pointed out.

Sure enough, another one had walked out of the lake. She was blue but had the same physique as the other one. The two of them approached each other menacingly and started throwing punches. When a punch connected, Zakaria could feel the force of the impact from here. He didn't want to get in the way of one of those things.

They left soon after to preserve at least _some_ of Issei's sanity.

* * *

"This is the territory of the Sprite Dragon," Zatouji explained as they continued onwards. "It's a Dragon that produces blue lightning. Useless for our purposes at the moment, though. It's male, and it hates other males. I just figured I'd mention it as a fun fact."

"Maybe you should catch it, Cannon Fodder," Zakaria suggested.

"Didn't you hear the guy?" Issei asked. "It hates males."

"I know. I could just use a laugh."

"Screw you."

They kept walking.

"Th-This is …!" Rias exclaimed.

Zakaria turned around and caught sight of what was going on. There was some sort of sticky green stuff on her. Then some fell onto Akeno. Zakaria looked up and saw slime dripping from the trees. It had now leaked onto all of the girls.

"A slime," Yuuto observed.

"M-My clothes …" Koneko muttered, her face going red. She looked outraged.

Zakaria couldn't blame her. The clothes of the girls were all melting off. It didn't take the slime long to eat through their uniforms and reveal their underwear. Zakaria couldn't entirely take his eyes off of Akeno, no matter how hard he tried. He kept taking little glances. That body of hers was fantastic, and she was wearing pretty racy undies, thin and black. It didn't exactly help that she was red-faced, and not in the angry way Rias and Koneko were, and erotically gyrating her body. All that was missing was—

"It hurts so good," Akeno practically moaned.

That was the exact moment Zakaria popped a boner.

"This one doesn't have a name," Zatouji elaborated. "It's pretty much just slime and tentacles. They only melt the clothes, and the tentacles absorb a woman's secretions. They feed on moisture, you see."

"How fascinating," Zakaria said, deadpan. "Now, how do we kill it?"

"N-No!" Issei cried. "Don't kill it! I want this one! Melting clothes, eating a woman's secretion … it's a match made in Heaven!"

"… I _wish_ I were surprised," Zakaria said slowly. "But I'm not. I can barely even bring myself to be disappointed."

"Issei, a familiar is very crucial to demons," Rias struggled to say as the slime was molesting her. "Think carefully about this."

"Okay." A brief pause. "I still want it."

"That was barely three seconds!"

Before anyone else could say anything, a sudden burst of heat was felt by everyone. Zakaria felt the sweat pour from his body like a waterfall, and the slime, tentacles and all, went up in flames. The flames only stuck around as long as the slime did, dissipating when the slime was burned away and leaving the girls unharmed. The fire spread up the trees where the slime was hanging and burned it all up there, too. When the fire was gone completely, the girls weren't in a much better state than they had been before. The sweat from the fire was sticking their underwear to them in such a fashion that they may as well have not been wearing any. Zakaria turned away, a slightly red face, upon catching a glimpse of Akeno's hardened nipples.

_I should never have fucked those fallen angels,_ he thought, not for the first time. His low libido was one of the things about him that made it easy not to grow attached to people. He was glad that the fallen angels had at least left after they had done the deed; sex could lead to attachment, a one-night stand or not. _I can't start getting back into all that now. Not again. Not ever again._

"You're welcome," said a rough, feminine voice from above them.

They all looked up. The girl appeared to be somewhere between 18 and 20, and she was composed entirely of flames. Every part of her was various shades of orange and yellow, with the sole exceptions of her eyes, which were pure white with slit black pupils at the centre, and the teeth that were showing through her cocky grin. Even though she appeared to be made of fire, she still looked physically _there_ , with smooth orange skin. There were large patches of roaring flame on her hands, feet, and hair. She was also totally naked, using smaller patches of fire to cover up the nipples at the centre of her D-cup breasts and private parts.

"An Ignis!" Zatouji exclaimed in surprise. "But you guys are only supposed to live near the volcano!"

"The what now?" Issei asked.

"I got bored," the Ignis said dismissively. "Wanted to wander for a bit. Those slimes are such a fucking nuisance."

"To think we'd find a fire elemental in the middle of the forest …" Zatouji muttered.

"So, what the fuck are you doin' out here, anyway?" the Ignis asked.

"I am escorting these demons through the forest in search of familiars."

"Ha! Well, I guess that counts me out. None of you looks tough enough to be my master."

"How do you mean?" Zakaria asked.

"You wanna take _this_ , you gotta show me you're worthy. If anyone wants to be my master, they gotta fuckin' _fight_ me."

"Okay."

"See, I figured as mu— Say what now?"

"I said, okay." Zakaria stared up at her. "I'll take you on. A fire elemental sounds like a pretty strong familiar to have. Plus, I'm getting tired of being here. The sooner we can get done, the better."

The Ignis stared down at him for a few moments, then started laughing. "You're a funny guy," she said. "Handsome, too. If you're serious, then sure, let's go. But lemme warn ya, I won't be holdin' back!"

"Come at me, then."

She did.

The fire that comprised her body intensified, roaring like a raging inferno. Zakaria was already dodging to the side when the first fireball came his way. Rather than lingering and setting the forest aflame, he noted, the fire dissipated quickly. She had control over how much her flames burned, which would also explain what had happened with the slime. He darted to the side as more fireballs came his way.

"I'm disappointed!" the Ignis shouted down at him. "Talkin' all big and then runnin' around like a headless chicken!? Where the fuck d'you get off, waistin' my time!?"

_Just looking for an opening, lady,_ he thought as he continued to dodge her fireballs. _I could use my telekinesis to throw those back, but she's_ made _of fire, so that's out. Same with most of what's in the forest. All flammable._ "I could say the same to you!" he shouted up at her. "All you've done this whole time is throw fireballs at me from up there! Why don't you come down here and take me on up close!?"

"So, you wanna get _physical_ , eh?" She licked her lips. "Fine by me!"

The Ignis swooped down at Zakaria, who kept on running away from her. The second he felt the heat at the back of his neck, he dropped to his knees and slid along. The Ignis, just as he had planned, flew over the top of him. He stood up, took out his machete, and threw it at her back. He assumed that seeing as she was composed of fire, this wouldn't be incredibly dangerous. _God, I hope I'm right about that,_ he thought. It would be a shame to have to find a new familiar because he killed this one.

He was right.

The machete hit the Ignis and flew right through her, though she did yell in pain as it did so. Fire reappeared in the gash it made and healed her immediately … only for _another_ rip to appear as the machete flew back through her as Zakaria telekinetically pulled it back towards himself. He caught it at about the same instant as the Ignis rounded on him. She was glaring, but the grin was still on her face. She was enjoying this now.

She came at him again, and Zakaria knew better than to think the same strategy would work twice, so he charged her in return. Their eyes locked on each other's as they ran at one another. As they neared, Zakaria raised his hand as though to strike with the machete. The Ignis' eyes followed his hand … and widened when she saw the machete was not in there.

It stabbed into her side, for Zakaria had been controlling it while misdirecting her with his charge. This time, the strike was anything but quick and clean. He kept the machete in there and dragged it up her body. Even if she was healing near-instantaneously, he could see that these actions caused her pain. Getting a new idea, he shoved the machete inside her … all the way. Now it was inside her body. She yelled in pain as he started moving it around inside her, and she started digging into her own body with her hands in a bid to remove it, causing herself even _more_ pain in the process.

Eventually, she succeeded in getting it out and threw it away. But it did not stay put. It floated before it could hit the ground and returned to Zakaria's hand.

"That fuckin' hurt," she said.

"That was the idea," he responded. "This is a _fight_ , isn't it?"

Her grin grew, and there was a spark in her eyes. "You're God damn right it is."

That was when she _exploded_ with flames and flew at Zakaria like a rocket. She was going straight for him, determined not to be robbed of her hit this time. But it was not to be. Milliseconds before she would have hit him, Zakaria jumped into the air and back-flipped. His face was pointed down just as the Ignis passed beneath him, at which point he took his machete and plunged it downwards and into her back. His arms felt like they were being ripped out of their sockets as he was pulled at rapid speed along with the Ignis, his hand still firmly wrapped around the handle of the machete. She started moving from side to side erratically, trying to shake him off.

With a tremendous amount of strength, Zakaria pulled himself down using the machete as leverage. He pulled it out of her back only when he had settled on her back with his own strength, and he then wrapped his arms around her neck and _squeezed_. He didn't know if Ignises needed oxygen, but he was sure planning on finding out. "Give in," he said directly into her ear.

"Fuck no," she growled and continued trying to shake him off.

He looked at where she was flying and, throwing himself to one side with all his strength, forced her to turn and ram straight into a tree. It snapped due to the force it was hit with, and Zakaria himself felt the jolt, too, nearly being forced to release his grip. He looked again at the path they were on and this time got a solid idea of how he could end this. He held on for dear life as they went, making careful note of how close they were getting …

Then, when they were in position, he threw himself off of her. On the way down, he grabbed her, this time by the arm, and the sudden change in momentum brought her veering downwards and to the side along with him … and directly into the water of the lake.

"Fuck!" she screamed as steam came cascading off of her. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She made to scramble out of the water but found she could not. Zakaria still had hold of her arm, and he wasn't letting go. "G-Get off me!"

"Then surrender," he said, trying to keep his head above the water even as he was holding her.

"N-Never!"

"Then, we stay here. I don't know about you, but I can do this all day."

"… Damn it! Fine! I give up! I'll be your familiar! Just let go of me, God damn it!"

He let go of her and promptly lost purchase, falling into the water once again. That wasn't much of a problem now that he'd won. He swam his way back to the surface and the bank, climbing onto dry land. He stood up and shook himself off, trying to get as much of the water off of his soaked form as possible. That is until he felt a presence to his left. He turned his head and saw one of the Undines from before standing there, glaring down at him. It raised its arm to punch … but suddenly flew backwards several dozen feet, crashing through several trees before landing with a huge _thud_.

"Sorry, lady," Zakaria said as blood began to drip from his nose. "But I really can't be bothered to deal with you after that."

"Zakaria!" came Rias' voice. The O.R.C., along with Zatouji, came running at him from deeper in the forest. "What happened?"

"I won," he said simply. "Didn't I?" he said louder, looking to his side.

"Yeah, yeah," said the Ignis. "Don't get too cocky, though. If it hadn't been for that trick you did with the lake, we'd still be throwin' down. But never let it be said that I'm not an elemental of my word. I'll be your familiar." She eyed him up and down. "Could've been worse. If I was gonna have to be anyone's familiar, I'm glad it was someone so good-lookin'. With lotsa energy, too, going by the fight. I get the feeling we'll be having a ton of _fun_ together."

"Seems like things are going to get _heated_ in your apartment from now on, Zakaria," Akeno commented in amusement.

"Lucky prick," Issei grumbled.

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," said Zakaria. "What's your name?"

"Ignisia," she told him. "Yeah, I know, not very creative, but it's my name, so you'd better get fuckin' used to it!"

"So, how are we doing this?" Zakaria asked Zatouji.

"Well, really, you just need to agree," Zatouji told him. "You say 'In the name of I,' then you say your name, 'I order that you shall accept my contract and become my familiar.' As long as she agrees, everything else is just automatic."

Zakaria hummed and turned to Ignisia. "In the name of I, Zakaria Holland, I order that you shall accept my contract and become my familiar." A magic circle appeared on the ground, with Ignisia at the centre. It glowed for a few moments and then vanished.

"That's it," said Rias. "You're bound together by the contract now."

"You're stuck with me, Zak," Ignisia said, leaning her arm on his shoulder and wearing a shit-eating grin. "But don't worry, it won't be all bad. I'll make sure this is good for _both_ of us."

Issei growled in jealousy at the implications.

"My, my," Akeno said in amusement.

"Well, at least it won't be fallen angels this time," Rias commented.

"Seems like you got exactly what Hyoudou wanted," said Yuuto.

"… Don't turn into another pervert," was all Koneko had to say.

After that, they continued.

They never did find Issei a familiar.


	5. Chapter 5

This morning, Zakaria began to think monotony was going to be a good warning sign for when things started happening in this universe. It had been a few days, not quite a week, since the trip to the Familiar Forest had resulted in him forging a contract with Ignisia (who he had placed in the spare room, much to her open displeasure), and things had gone on pretty much as usual. The only new addition was Ignisia's attempts to seduce him in the mornings and evenings, which he usually responded to by dumping cold water on her. He was thinking about getting a spray bottle. That seemed like a more efficient method.

He woke up, as usual, naked except for his boxer shorts and in desperate need of a drink. Some lager with breakfast sounded terrific. It didn't take him long to wake up, as he hadn't been a heavy sleeper since he was about six years old, so he was standing beside his bed, stretching, just a few seconds after awakening. His bones cracked and popped pleasantly while old wounds ached with memory.

As soon as he finished stretching, he stepped out of his room. He wouldn't get dressed until he'd eaten his breakfast and had at least one beer.

Somebody was sitting in his living room area. It wasn't Ignisia.

He summoned his machete to his hand. "Who the hell are you?" he asked in a warning tone.

The woman, who had been sitting on the sofa with her back to him up until now, swung her head around. "You're finally awake!" she chirped, jumping from the couch with such swiftness that Zakaria instinctively took a step backwards and prepared to defend himself. "I thought about waking you up, but that's rude to do to someone in their own house, but I was just getting so _booooored_ waiting for you to get up, but then I …" She went on … and on … and on.

Zakaria took the opportunity to observe his intruder as she continued to speak at a mile a minute. She looked to be in her late teens, maybe early twenties, but given the fact that demons (if that's what she was) live for an average of 10,000 years, he had long since realised he couldn't judge their ages by appearance. In any case, she was pretty small for as old as she looked, except for a particular… _area_ of the chest, which was big and bouncy. She had black hair tied into twin-tails and blue eyes. She was wearing what could best be described as a "Magical Girl" outfit, mostly coloured in different shades of pink, with a pair of black fingerless gloves, and hot pink and black striped stockings. It showed off her midriff nicely. The whole look was complete with what looked like an honest to Satan magic wand.

_If this is what witches are like here, then I want to go back to my desolate dimension,_ Zakaria thought, exasperated by the colourful, hyperactive individual before him. Figuring she wasn't a threat, he sent the machete back into his room. "What's your name?" he asked.

"… so I tried to think of stuff I could do to your living room to kill time and— Oh, silly me!" she cut herself off. "Hi! I'm Serafall Leviathan!" She waved her wand through the air, and everything around her began to sparkle. It was nauseating. "Nice to meet ya, Mr Universe-Hopper-Guy!"

Zakaria decided that it was probably best for his sanity not to question the sparkling. "Leviathan?" he asked.

"Uh-huh!" she confirmed, nodding cheerfully. "One of the Four Great Satans, that's me!"

_So … one of my new race's leaders just decided to drop in this morning,_ Zakaria thought. He walked over to his fridge. _I am far too sober for this._ To remedy this, he took out a can of lager, cracked it open, and chugged half of it then and there before he had even bothered to close the fridge door. When he turned back to Serafall, there was a look of mild concern on her face that he chose to ignore promptly. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, Lady Leviathan?" he asked.

The look on her face vanished, and she giggled. "No need to be so formal, silly. You can just call me Serafall! Or Sera, if you want." She winked at him. "I appreciate the show, by the way. It's not every day I make a house visit complete with a practically naked man."

"That's not intentional on my part, Lady Leviathan. I had no idea you were going to be here, or else I might have gotten up earlier."

She pouted at his refusal to use her first name. "You're no fun," she decided. Then she started grinning. "But I can _make_ you fun."

"I would appreciate it if you didn't. Once again, why are you here?"

"To see you!" she informed him to his surprise. "I'm dealing with some diplomatic issues regarding the fallen angels' presence within demon territory, and it's so _boring_. But your name came up, and it got me curious because Sirzechs has talked about you, too! Rias told him all about her new Pawn from another world. And I figured, 'Hey, someone from another universe has gotta be super interesting and fun, right?' But you're not fun, but that's okay because I'm sure I can fix that! Ooh, me, you, and Sona should do something fun together sometime! That girl needs to have some more fun, too, so you'll both be getting something out of it."

"Slow down, please. I know who Azazel is, but who's Sirzechs? Or Sona, for that matter?"

"Sirzechs is Rias' big brother, and Sona is my _adorable_ little sister!"

"Rias told her family about me?"

"Yep! She told him about how you were all sad and all the drinking and stuff."

"… I see." The nonchalant way she just revealed that his bad habits were open enough knowledge that Rias' older brother knew and told Serafall was not lost on him. If it were anyone else, he would have suspected her of letting him know that they learned on purpose, but … she didn't seem to have the mental faculties to be that subtle. Not stupid, just too straightforwardly cheerful about things. He felt irritation at the knowledge that Rias was telling people about how he lived his life and held onto the feeling. "Well, I hope I lived up to your expectations."

She giggled. "I hoped you'd be more fun, but that's okay 'cause I'm gonna have _tons_ of fun cheering you up in the future!" She paused and hummed. "I wonder if you're fun to tease …"

"Come again?"

"If you insist." She gave him a wide grin and a wink.

"Not even remotely what I meant."

"Don't be such a killjoy. You aren't a very happy guy, huh?"

"I'd be happier if you got to some sort of point."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You _are_ the point, silly! I came to see what you're like, and now I know what you're like. Now I wanna see if I can get you to smile!"

"I would much rather you didn't. Wouldn't one of the Satans have more important things to do than interfere with my life?"

"All work and no play makes Serafall a dull girl!"

"You'd be more tolerable that way."

Serafall's expression changed then, changed in such a way that Zakaria saw the demon beneath the cutesy demeanour for the first time in the whole conversation. It was a grin, this one full of mischief and promises of sinfully good times to come. "I am going to _enjoy_ playing with you," she said. Something started beeping, causing Serafall to huff in displeasure. She took her phone out of her pocket and switched off the alarm. "I have to leave now," she informed him. "But don't you worry, I'll be back!"

"Don't rush on my account," said Zakaria.

"Believe me; it'll be no trouble at all. It'll be my pleasure."

With that, she teleported out.

_It was bad enough that the other members of the club can teleport in here willy-nilly,_ Zakaria thought in irritation. _Now, the damn Satans can, too. How many people just come into my home without warning?_ He made a mental note to talk to Rias about that. If someone teleported in and startled him, he would bear no responsibility for their deaths.

A door opened, and Ignisia popped her head out of the spare bedroom. "The fuck's goin' on out here?" she asked.

"Some nut just dropped in for a chat," Zakaria said dismissively before getting ready for the day ahead.

* * *

"I have just one question," Zakaria said as he looked around the room.

"Yes?" Rias inquired.

"What the hell about me made you think this was a good idea?"

For the first time, Zakaria was at Kuoh Academy during school hours, _far_ too early in the day for his liking. He was standing in an office which, according to Rias, had gone unused until today. It was to be Zakaria's office. Rias had gotten him a _job_.

"For one thing, it keeps you close at hand in case I need you during the day," Rias explained. "The reason I got you this job specifically is that, despite your usual attitude fluctuating between annoyance and apathy regularly, you seem to have a way with people. You got the fallen angels to stand down and reevaluate their orders with little more than a few words, you managed to befriend Koneko of all people despite your interactions being virtually silent, and even Asia has taken a shine to you. She even managed to guilt Issei into not being mad at you."

_So that's why he stopped being pissy at the "I slept with your ex" thing so quickly,_ Zakaria mused. "So another part of this is that you think keeping me closer during the day will increase the chances of Asia joining us?" he clarified.

Rias' smile turned into a grin of triumph. " _And_ you can see right through people," she added. "Thank you for further proving my point. And yes, I will admit, trying to take advantage of Asia's fondness of you _is_ a factor. I'm a demon; it's what we do."

Zakaria sighed and looked at the sign on the open door of the— _his_ office.

**Mr Zakaria Holland**

**School Counsellor**

_Why did she have it done in English?_ Zakaria wondered idly. "Fine," he said, taking his hip flask out and swigging some whiskey. "I'll do the job. I don't have anywhere _near_ the qualifications required for it, but I'll do it."

"Maybe not on paper, you don't, but I believe the points I've mentioned make you qualified." She eyed his flask distastefully. "Should you be drinking on school grounds?"

"Should you have had Asia move in with Cannon Fodder?" Zakaria countered. "Knowing him, that innocent girl might not be so innocent anymore. Throwing a smitten teenage girl in with the guy she's smitten with, who also happens to have one of the highest sex drives I've ever seen, sounds like a recipe for disaster, pregnancy, or both. Probably both." He moved to take another swig, but Rias snatched the flask from him and destroyed it with a small, concentrated blast of destruction. "Well, screw you, too."

"No, thanks; going by the incident with the fallen angels, I don't know or care to know where else that thing has been. Your concerns are noted but misplaced. Perverted he may be, but I trust Issei. Even if they do, do that, it's their business, and pregnancy is unlikely. demon birth rates are low, even for half-breeds."

"Unlikely isn't impossible," Zakaria said, but otherwise dropped the subject.

_RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

The bell rang, signaling the start of school for the day.

"Feel free to get acquainted with your new office," Rias said as she exited the room. "Somebody'll introduce you in an assembly in about ten minutes. A teacher should come by to collect you and show you where to go." She left.

Zakaria took a spare flask out of his inside jacket pocket and swigged. He was wearing a suit which Rias had laid out for him not long before she told him he would be coming to the school. It was a simple thing: a white shirt, grey jacket, trousers, and tie, and black shoes. He also had a lanyard around his neck with his name and job on it. He wondered where Rias got the photograph of him on there as he didn't recall taking any photos at any point, but he shrugged that off. Questioning small shit like that was never worth it.

The office itself was pretty bare, and it would probably stay that way. Zakaria felt no need to decorate. The walls were all white, and the floor was grey tiles. There was a desk with a computer, paper, and pens on it, and a swivel chair pulled up next to it. In the remaining space, there was a coffee table and two armchairs, presumably for more comfortable conversations during one-on-one talks with students. The door had a window, but it was cloudy glass, so nobody could see inside if somebody locked it.

Seeing very little he needed to familiarise himself with in here, Zakaria just sat down and awaited his new colleague.

* * *

Zakaria hadn't been in a school auditorium for years. This one was rather grand, being able to fit what he assumed to be all the students in Kuoh Academy. It was only now that he was able to appreciate the disproportionate gender ration Issei had spoken of. It looked like for every ten to fifteen girls, there was only one boy. That was the _generous_ estimate. Zakaria couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive. Despite everything he'd been through, the idea of being surrounded by hormonal teenage girls was still one of the terrifying things he could think of. He was happy he wasn't a teacher.

He quickly found that introducing him to the students was not the only purpose of the assembly. His introduction was last on the list, so he was just sat waiting for most of it. He could feel a few curious eyes pointed in his direction, but the students seemed good at listening to the one speaking for the most part. Well-behaved kids – that was a good sign.

Unfortunately, from conversations with both Koneko and Issei, he knew there were at least two more like Issei here. Zakaria wondered if he should think of them as Cannon Fodder 2 and 3 or come up with a separate way to think of them.

"Before we go, I have one last announcement to make," the principal's voice resounded around the room through the microphone. "We know how mentally taxing student life can be. Between studying, club activities, and the problems all young people experience, we can see how many of you may have been worn down. In light of this, we have taken on a counsellor with whom you may share any problems or concerns you are having, both in and out of school life." The principal turned to face Zakaria. "Mr Holland, if you'd like to introduce yourself."

Zakaria took a breath and stood up, none too excited to be doing public speaking. "My name is Zakaria Holland," he introduced himself as he got up to the mic. All eyes were upon him now. He got the funny impression a lot of them were eyeing him like a piece of meat. He was used to such feelings, but not in this way. "I, um," he paused, thinking of what to say next, "I hope to give you the best school life that I can. Feel free to drop by my office if you have any concerns, questions, or even just to talk." Approachability was necessary for this sort of thing, he'd heard. He didn't care, but if Rias wanted him to do this job, he would do it to the best of his ability. It wasn't like he had anything better to be spending his time on.

That was how he concluded his introduction. He wasn't used to people, at least not in this capacity, so leaving it short and sweet was the best option.

The principal dismissed them all, sending them on to their first classes of the day.

* * *

Zakaria very quickly began to wish Rias had given him something, _anything_ to do because it was not until the first break of the day that he heard a knock on his office door. That first break time of the day had been packed with students, exclusively of the female variety, who wanted to become acquainted with the new member of staff. He hadn't felt particularly inclined to answer their questions about him with anything but the vaguest sentences possible. Even if his life story had not sounded mad to them, it indeed would have left them _needing_ a counsellor just as much as he probably did.

Zakaria was resigned to this turn of events repeating itself at lunchtime, so he was pleasantly surprised to find that it was far quieter. About ten minutes into lunch, a knock on the door caught his attention. There was only one person outside the door; he could see through the cloudy window.

"Enter," he called to the person knocking.

The door opened, and in walked another female student. She carried herself in a far more mature and dignified manner than the ones he had dealt with earlier, which he took to be a good sign. She was a bespectacled 18-year-old with black hair styled in a bob cut, violet eyes, and a slim figure. She was wearing the Kuoh Academy girls' uniform about as correctly as it was possible to wear it. She closed the door behind her. "Mr Holland," she said, "it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Sona Sitri, though I am known to the humans of this school as Souna Shitori. I am the student council president."

He didn't even bat an eye at her use of the phrase "the humans of this school." Rias had briefly mentioned that there were other demons in town; he assumed this was one of them. Her name rang a bell. "How may I help you?" he asked.

"Straight to the point. I like that. I merely thought it prudent to introduce myself to the new staff member. I care about this school greatly, Mr Holland. I suppose you could say I'm here to assess you. I trust Rias' judgement, but a servant of hers or not, I expect you to adhere to the high standards I have for this academy."

_I think I just found who runs this place,_ Zakaria realised. "I'll try not to disappoint."

"Good."

Zakaria suddenly remembered where he had heard her name before. "Your sister broke into my house this morning."

Sona went rigid. "Excuse me?"

"I only know that because she mentioned you. I woke up, and she was just sort of in my living room. No offence meant, but I can think of easier people to deal with pre-coffee."

Sona sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I apologise for her," she said. "I know that she can be quite a handful."

"I feel like I handled it all right, though she made it sound like she isn't planning on leaving me alone any time soon."

"My condolences. I empathise with you greatly."

"Thanks. Any tips?"

"If you see an avenue of escape, take it."

"Fair enough."

They spent a few moments in silence, bonding over their shared tormentor. Sona left soon after that, and once she was gone, the constant knocking of the other students resumed from earlier. Zakaria had to wonder if Sona had something to do with the fact that nobody was coming at first.

* * *

The light died down as Zakaria transported to his contract for the evening. "You have got to be kidding me," he said when he saw who had summoned him.

"Um … hi," said Tomio. He was standing in an odd position, holding his head in his hands and looking very distressed. He was also wearing a red turtle-neck.

"What do you want?" Zakaria asked impatiently.

Tomio gulped in nervousness, and when he spoke again, it was in a quiet, embarrassed, shamed tone. "… I did it again …"

"… You, are, _shitting_ me."

"N-No, I'm not …"

Zakaria looked around, and he noticed somebody missing. "I'm guessing Madoka took my advice and dumped your ass." He took another look around and noticed something. "Why the hell did you summon me in an alleyway?"

"I couldn't do it in the apartment!" Tomio exclaimed, suddenly panicked. He almost seemed to _steady_ his head with his hands upon shouting. " _She's_ there. Or at least, she _was_."

"Who? Madoka?"

"Different apartment. Madoka kicked me out yesterday."

"Good for her."

" _Seriously_ , dude?"

"You've cheated _twice_ in what seems like a little over a month. If you make a habit of this, I'm genuinely surprised the relationship lasted this long."

Tomio sighed. "Would you _please_ just help me?"

"I need to know what the problem is first, Tomio. Hallucinations again?"

Tomio laughed bitterly. "I _wish_." He coughed, and a little blood started dripping from his mouth. "This lunatic fortune-teller lady I … I was sleeping with, she said she's in love with my head. My fucking _head_. She, uh, sh-she took a piece of her hair out and started using it like a fucking _garrote wire_ on my neck. Said she wanted my severed head for her collection."

"Well, you got out of there before she got it off."

"You'd think. Pull down the turtle-neck."

Zakaria pulled the collar of the turtle-neck down. The material was damp. "Ah …" There was a time in Zakaria's life where he would have seen this and said "This isn't physically possible," but as weird as this was, it was pretty mundane by his standards. There was a thin, red line going all the way around Tomio's neck. Little drops of blood leaked out of it. Tomio had quite literally been _decapitated_ and was now wandering the streets, holding his head on his neck with his hands. Between this revelation and the dampness he felt in his hand, it occurred to Zakaria that the turtle-neck wasn't naturally red. Pulling his hand away, he saw he was correct – he had blood on his fingertips. "I can see why this would be distressing."

"Gee, you _think_?" Tomio asked sarcastically.

"Do you _want_ me to boot your head off your shoulders?"

"I want you to _fix_ this?"

"Do I have a guarantee that you won't do this again? Because I'm starting to think of helping you as pretty redundant. As anyone who has worked retail will tell you, repeat customers are a blessing unless they're fucking idiots."

" _She has a collection of fucking heads, dude!_ "

"And you'll be joining it soon," said a deep, feminine voice. Zakaria turned his attention to the entrance of the alleyway and beheld the woman Tomio was having his affair with and who was responsible for his current predicament. Zakaria could not blame Tomio for being attracted to her even if he _could_ blame him for literally everything else. She was quite beautiful. Nothing compared to the sinful allure of the fallen angels, but still beautiful. Long, dark hair flowed down her shoulders, clothed by exotic, gipsy-like clothing. Her skin was almost porcelain in its paleness. It was just a shame about the eyes, which he could only assume weren't like this when Tomio met her since they made the whole image disturbing. Narrowed and viscous with desire, the whites were yellow, the irises were red, and the pupils were pinpoints, barely there at all. Once again, Zakaria found himself faced with a disturbing monster that he would probably still sleep with. "Begone, demon. My business with Tomio does not concern you," she warned.

"As my summoner here is your person of interest, I think it does," Zakaria refuted.

"If it is payment for your services that you fear losing, I would be happy to compensate you in exchange for being allowed to take my beloved Tomio's head."

"How much are you offering?"

"Huh?" Tomio asked fearfully.

"I'm a fortune-teller, dear," said the woman-thing. "And not one of these fakes from the human world, either. I could quite easily—"

_SCHLICK!_

Her words were cut off as Zakaria's machete found its place in her heart. It quickly removed itself and she began to bleed onto the ground. She had just enough consciousness left to stare in bafflement before falling face-forward and onto the floor.

"Would you look at that?" Zakaria mused. "I guess we both penetrated her, Tomio."

"Ha-ha," Tomio mock-laughed as he stared on in shock.

They both stared at the corpse for a bit, Tomio in shock but Zakaria because he never trusted that his enemy was dead until a certain amount of time had passed, and even then, he was sceptical. He tilted his head in curiosity as her body seemed to start _shrinking_. Thin strands of hair began to grow from every inch of her body, every pour and every orifice. It surrounded the body like a cocoon before growing upwards, a small forest of dark, hair-composed trees.

Three figures began to take shape. At first, they were simply humanoid silhouettes, a trio of empty white shapes. Then their features began to etch themselves onto the forms. First came the eyes, pure, pale white in their newly-formed sockets. Then came the mouths, grinning viciously. Noses and ears followed. Their bodies, naked, formed nipples and bellybuttons, but absolutely nothing in the way of genitalia. A trio of genderless, hair-composed mannequins that Zakaria quickly recognised as resembling tall, elongated infants, all with their eyes fixated on Tomio.

" _Daddyyyyy_!" the middle one screamed in a disturbingly childlike voice. They ran towards Tomio.

Zakaria used his telekinesis to cut through the three of them, but they immediately pulled themselves back together, hair stitching them together again as quickly as they were cut. It spoke to how much effort Zakaria was willing to put in to save Tomio's life that he didn't bother using his telekinesis to hold them in place instead.

They were upon Tomio in moments, crawling all over him, chanting "Play with us, Daddy!" even as they ripped his head off.

Then it was all over.

It was like a blink. One moment, Zakaria was watching Tomio's head being ripped from his shoulders, just another in a long line of victims he had seen die horribly in his life. The next, the trio of abominable children had vanished, leaving only the hair-filled clothes of the woman on the floor.

Tomio sat up, his head back where it belonged. "W-What?" he asked, shooting his hands back up to his head to hold it on.

"I don't think there's any need for that," Zakaria said. He walked forward and pulled the turtle-neck's collar down again. There was a scar around Tomio's neck, but his head was fully attached too. "It's over."

"Th-Thank God …"

"Thank _me_ , not that useless asshole. I fulfilled your request; pay me so I can leave. And just to be clear: if I am summoned because you made the same mistake for a _third damn time_ , I will cut your fucking _dick_ off and feed it to a stray dog. Okay?"

Tomio was swift to pay him and send him on his way after that. Zakaria was all too happy to leave.

Tomio was so traumatised by the event that he spent the rest of his life holding his head in place.

* * *

Zakaria was glad to be back in the clubroom. He immediately walked over to the sofa and flopped himself down on it. "I'll be honest, President," he said. "If I'm summoned to help that guy again, I can't guarantee his survival. He has the same problem as Zeus: a chronic inability to keep his dick out of people who will cause him big problems in the future."

Rias barely gave a hum of acknowledgement.

"Here you go, Zakaria," Asia said, handing him a cup of tea.

"Thanks," he said, taking it. He wouldn't tell her so, but hers wasn't as good as Akeno's. He took a sip. "Very nice, as usual." He patted her on the head in appreciation. Even he couldn't bring himself to act cold towards her.

Asia's attention was quickly taken away, however, as Issei came in through the door. "I'm back," he announced as he entered. Asia immediately went and started fussing over him.

Zakaria couldn't help but smile at the situation. Someone like Issei attracting someone like Asia was funny and kind of adorable.

"I hope this doesn't mean I have competition," Akeno joked as she stood next to Zakaria.

"Your tea is still the best," he responded quietly so Asia could not hear.

"That's good to hear." She sat down next to him, and he noticed that she was close, very close. Her arm brushed against his. "If you like it so much, I could make it for you whenever you want. Just give me a call, and I'll be _right over_."

This wasn't Zakaria's first rodeo. He knew that tone and _precisely_ what she was implying with it. "I'd hate to trouble you," he said, trying to worm his way out of the conversation.

"No trouble at all. It would be an absolute _pleasure_." She moved closer. One of her breasts was now touching his arm. "I wouldn't be opposed to coming over tonight if you're interested."

Zakaria abruptly stood up. "President, are there any more contracts tonight?"

"Hm?" she spoke from behind her desk, blinking. "Oh, yes, I suppose so. Take whichever you want."

"… Thanks."

"Are you okay, Prez?" Issei asked. "You seem pretty out of it."

"I'm fine," Rias waved him off. "Nothing to worry about."

Zakaria knew she was lying, but he also knew it was none of his business. He just walked over to the magic circle and prepared for the next contract of the evening. As he left, he saw Akeno giving him a determined smirk and a wink that clearly said: "You got away this time, but I'm a long way from giving up." He sighed as the circle transported him away.

* * *

Zakaria woke up the following morning, hoping that he wouldn't be waking up to any surprises. The unfamiliar warmth in his bed told him he wouldn't be so lucky. He opened his eyes and glanced to the side. Ignisia was cuddled against him, her body heat, so much hotter than any human's, warming him pleasantly. He kept his eyes on her for a few moments before sighing. He reached over and poked her in the forehead. "Hey, wake up," he said.

"… on't wanna …" she said hazily.

"Tough. Get up." He sat up, pulling away from her.

She groaned in annoyance. "Why you gotta be such a killjoy?"

"Why are you in my bed? You have your room."

"I'm fuckin' _tired_ of sleeping on my own!" she argued. "So whether you like it or not, I'm sleepin' with you from now on."

"It's cute that you think that."

"I _know_ that. Good luck shakin' me off, boss. Besides, why are you complainin'? You got a problem with waking up to _this_ ," she gestured to her body, which he was just now noticing wasn't wreathed in flame as it usually was, leaving her breasts, nipples and all, and private parts exposed, "every mornin'? Does your door swing the other way?"

"I like women, but I don't see how my sexuality is your business. You're not sleeping in here."

"Tough shit. Let's see you try and _stop_ me."

Zakaria sighed. "Whatever." He left the room to get ready for the day.

* * *

Zakaria met with Issei, Asia, and Yuuto when he was on his way to the clubroom that afternoon.

"Do you guys know if Prez has a problem?" Issei asked suddenly.

"She has a problem," Zakaria said frankly. "I just haven't asked."

"It might have something to do with her household," Yuuto offered.

"Akeno would know, right?" Issei asked.

"Akeno is her most trusted servant, so she'd know," said Yuuto.

They continued to the clubroom in relative silence. As they got closer, however, Zakaria felt something. A presence of some sort. It was like the other club members, the aura of a demon, but it was bigger, _much_ more significant. He already looked forward to reuniting with his machete upon entering the clubroom, but now he was getting outright anxious for it. He took his flask out of his pocket and took a preparatory swig. He had a feeling things were about to get interesting again.

Yuuto seemed to think so, too. "… For this presence to be here …" he said when they arrived at the clubroom door.

Issei opened the door without any concerns, and the group walked in. The first thing Zakaria did was summon his belt with the holster for his machete and fasten it around his waist.

Rias, Akeno, and Koneko were already in there, but there was a fourth person, someone Zakaria hadn't met before. She looked to be in her early 20s, possibly even younger than Zakaria himself, though given what he had learned about demon ageing, the odds were pretty high that she was several centuries older than him. She had back-length silver hair with a long braid on each side that had small blue bows on the ends, while the rest is allowed to droop down her back. Her eyes were red, very fitting for a demon. She wore a blue and white French maid outfit with long sleeves and a white maid headband over her head. Her lips stood out, vividly on her stoic yet beautiful face due to red lipstick. It was her aura Zakaria could sense on his way up to the room, and being in its presence was assaulting his senses.

Rias had a very unpleasant expression on her face. Akeno was smiling, as usual, but her eyes were cold. Koneko was sitting quietly in a chair in the corner of the room, likely trying to sit as far away from the others as possible.

Nobody said a word.

"Oh, my," Yuuto said quietly as the others stepped into the room.

Asia gripped Issei's sleeve. Issei patted her head to try and keep her calm.

Rias looked between all of them before speaking up. "Looks like everyone is here. Before we begin, there's something I need to tell you all."

"Lady Rias, do you want me to explain the situation?" asked the maid.

Rias rejected her offer with a wave of the hand. "The truth is—"

The magic circle lit up, interrupting her. It was not the whitish-blue that glowed when the club members used it. This glow was orange-yellow, flickering like flames. The magic circle itself seemed to change shape to an unfamiliar emblem.

"Phenex," said Yuuto.

Suddenly, the magic circle was no longer only _like_ flames but was quite literally on _fire_. It shot up towards the ceiling, heating the room significantly but not burning anything. The silhouette of a man soon appeared within the circle. "It's been a while since I came to the human world," said a man's voice steeped in arrogance. The flames dissipated, revealing him. He was a tall, handsome man who looked to be in his early 20s. He had short blond hair and bright blue eyes. His whole aura screamed "arrogance." He wore a burgundy blazer with gold embroidery on the right with matching trousers and black dress shoes. Underneath his open blazer was a white dress shirt that was unbuttoned at the top, giving a slight view to his chest.

Zakaria thought he knew everything he needed to know about this man from a simple glance. _Cannon Fodder Mk. 2 has arrived,_ he thought. _That might be an insult to Cannon Fodder._

The newcomer glanced around the room and smirked as his eyes landed on Rias. "My lovely Rias," he began. "I came to see you."

Rias met this greeting with a glare.

The man didn't seem to care and approached her, anyway. "Now then, Rias," he went on. "Let's go and take a look at the ceremony hall. The date of the ceremony is already decided, so we need to hurry up and take a look before the day arrives." He grabbed her arm.

"… Let go of me, Riser," Rias said coldly, shaking his hand off.

Riser smirked.

"Hey, you," Issei spoke up in irritation. "You're being rude to Prez. What kind of attitude is that to have towards a girl?"

Riser looked at him like the dirt on the sole of his shoe had started talking to him. "Who are you?" he asked in a tone of vague irritation.

"I am the servant demon of Rias Gremory! I'm the Pawn, Issei Hyoudou!"

"Hmm. Ah, okay."

His dismissive tone pissed Issei off even more. "I mean, who the hell are _you_?"

Riser looked surprised. "Oh? Rias, you haven't mentioned me to your servants?"

"I didn't tell them because there was no need," Rias spat.

"Oh my, harsh like always." Riser started laughing in open amusement.

"Mr Hyoudou," the maid said, getting Issei's attention. "This is Riser Phenex. He's a pure-blood noble demon and the third son of the House of Phenex. He is to be the husband of the next head of the House of Gremory. He is engaged to Lady Rias."

As Issei began screaming in horror, Zakaria sighed and grabbed his flask from his pocket. He downed all of the remaining whiskey in one gulp.

This was going to be a long day.

* * *

"The tea made by Rias' Queen is superb," Riser complimented Akeno. Zakaria felt a brief flare of aggression, which he mercilessly pushed back down.

"Thank you very much," Akeno responded with none of the warmth she usually exuded.

Riser was currently sitting on the sofa next to Rias with a hand on her shoulder. No matter how much she shook him off, he never stopped touching her. He played with her hair, held her hand, put his arm around her shoulders, and did just about everything to make sure everyone in the room knew he was a douchebag with no knowledge of what the word "no" meant. The others were sat away from them, something which was apparently down to them being High Class while the others were Low Class. That was another thing to tick off the Douchebag List. As if to emphasise this point, upon Rias' latest attempt to shake him off, he moved his hand from her shoulder to her leg, crossing that narrow line between douchebag and creep in Zakaria's mind.

"U-Umm, Issei?" Asia spoke up. "Did something good happen?"

Zakaria moved his eyes in Issei's direction and saw him with a dopey smile on his face. He followed Issei's line of sight to Rias' thighs and skirt. "Really, Cannon Fodder?" he asked, sighing. " _Now_?"

"… Indecent thinking is prohibited," Koneko said icily.

"You should wipe that drool off your chin," Yuuto said helpfully, handing Issei a handkerchief.

"I-It's none of your business!" Issei protested. He moved to wipe his mouth on his sleeve, but Asia got to it with a handkerchief first.

"It's almost time for the snacks," Asia said, her voice dripping with her innocence and naivete. "So you were drooling thinking about it, right?"

"… Thank you, Asia," said Issei.

"Stop it already!" Rias snapped, turning everyone's attention back towards her and Riser. She had stood up from the sofa to stop him from touching her while he was just maintaining that arrogant smirk. "Riser! I've told you before! I will not marry you!"

"Yeah, you've said that before," Riser said dismissively. "But I'm afraid that won't do. I think the situation of your household is quite serious."

"That's none of your concern!" said Rias. "As the next heiress to the House of Gremory, I will choose my husband! My father, brother, and everyone else in the Clan is rushing it! In any case, I was promised complete freedom until I graduate from university in the human world!"

"That's right. You will be free. You can go to college and do whatever you want with your servants. But your father and Lord Lucifer are worried. They're afraid your household will become extinct. We lost a great number of pure-blood demons in the last war. Even if the war has ended, animosity between us, the fallen angels, and God hasn't ended yet. It's not uncommon for the successors of pure-blood demons to die in random, pointless battles against them, which leads to the household becoming extinct. So for pure-blood demons in the noble like us, marriage would be the obvious solution for the sake of the demons. A pure-blood noble demon. Even you know that these children will be important for our people's future, right?" Riser explained all of this like he was talking down to a spoiled child complaining because their parents weren't getting them something they wanted. "The newly-produced demons – the ones like your servants, the reincarnated demons – are expanding in terms of strength, but that would make us, the noble demons with all our history, lose our place. There are old nobles who get close to reincarnated demons because they can be mighty. That isn't necessarily a bad thing; they _are_ important for the future of our species. But we can't allow the pure-blood demons go extinct. You and I were chosen to prevent this extinction. My House is safe because I have older brothers, but there are only two siblings in your House, and your brother is no longer part of it. That leaves only you, Rias, to inherit the House of Gremory. If you don't take a husband, the House of Gremory will end with you. Are you trying to crush a household with such a long history? Because of the last war, not even half of the Seventy Two Pillars remain alive. This marriage has the future of the demons riding on it."

_Thank you, Mr Exposition,_ Zakaria thought, growing bored with this incessant, elitist prattling. _I know demon birth rates are insanely low, but is it so out there an idea that Rias' parents could have another kid? With a lifespan of ten thousand years, they certainly can't be hurting for time._

"I'm not going to crush my house," Rias denied. "I _am_ willing to take a husband."

Riser smiled widely. "Oh, just as I expected! Then let's—"

"But I won't marry _you_ , Riser. I will only marry the one I love. Even demons from the old noble Houses have the right to choose."

The sharpening of Riser's eyes and the irritated click he made with his tongue were the first signs that this was about to get ugly. "… You know, Rias, I also carry the name of the House of Phenex behind me. I can't let that name get tarnished. I didn't even want to come to the human world. The fire and wind up here is _filthy_. For a demon like me, who rules over fire and wind, I just can't stand it!" The heat in the room shot through the roof as fire erupted all around Riser. Small patches of it roared to life around the room. "I will take you back to the Underworld, even if I have to burn all your servants—"

Riser was cut off courtesy of his head being cut from his shoulders by a flying machete. Before it had been off for even a second, however, flame connected the stump of his neck to the bottom of his head and pulled it back on. Very soon, there wasn't even a mark where Zakaria had done the severing.

"That's a shame," Zakaria said idly, standing up from his spot. "It would have been so much easier if you'd just died there."

Everyone stared at him with mixed levels of surprise.

"Y-You …" Riser was shaking with rage as he glared at Zakaria. "How _dare_ you assault a member of the House of Phenex, you filthy reincarnated demon!?"

"I _assaulted_ the jumped-up prick with his head up his ass who was threatening me. Though I would call what I did attempted murder rather than assault."

"Do you have even the slightest _idea_ who you're talking to!?"

"Just the latest in a long line of bastards who have gotten on my bad side."

" _I am a member of the noble House of Phenex!_ "

"And yet your death would mean quite literally nothing to me except _maybe_ an end to this headache. From the sound of it, your family has spares, so it'd hardly be a huge loss to them, either, I imagine."

"That is enough." The maid's voice was cold and authoritative. A sudden pressure made itself known, and Zakaria found he was having trouble maintaining his footing. "If the two of you continue, then I will have no choice but to put a stop to it. For Lord Lucifer's honour, I will not hold back."

It would seem that Zakaria was not the only one affected, for Riser took a deep breath and seemed to calm himself down. All the fire around the room dissipated as he stepped back and retook his seat. "To be told that by the strongest Queen, even I am intimidated," he said. "I wouldn't wish to fight anyone from Lord Lucifer's Familia, which is said to be made up of monsters."

Zakaria saw that the confrontation was over and retook his seat.

"Lord Lucifer and the Phenex family knew it would turn out like this," the maid revealed. "To tell you the truth, this was to be the last discussion meeting. Everyone knew that it wouldn't be solved, so they came up with the last resort."

"Last resort?" Rias asked. "What do you mean, Grayfia?"

"Lady Rias," said Grayfia, "if you wish to push your opinion forward, then how about you settle it by having a Rating Game against Lord Riser?"

Rias' jaw dropped open in shock.

"It's a game that's played by demons with a Familia," Yuuto explained to Issei and Zakaria. "They compete by making their servants battle."

Zakaria vaguely remembered Rias mentioning something about that before, when they went to take out that Stray demon, Viser.

"As you know, Lady Rias," Grayfia continued, "only matured demons can partake in the Rating Games. But in an unofficial match between pure-blood demons, even immature demons can participate. However, in this case—"

"When it involves the family and household problems," Rias sighed, seemingly seeing where this was going. "In other words, Father and the others decided to have the game as a last resort if I refused to cooperate, right? Just how far are they willing to interfere with my life to be satisfied …!?"

"Lady Rias, are you saying you also decline to participate in the game?"

"No. This is still a chance, so I'll take it. Let's settle this with a game, Riser."

Riser smirked. "So you're accepting it. I don't mind. But I'm already a matured demon, and I've already participated in the official games. I've even won most of them. Do you still want to play, Rias?"

"I will." Rias gave him a fearless smile. "I will blow you away, Riser!"

"Fine. If you win, do whatever you like. But if I win, you will marry me immediately."

"Understood," said Grayfia. "I, Grayfia, have confirmed both sides' opinions. I will be in charge of the game between the two households. Is that acceptable?"

"Yes."

"Yeah."

Both sides agreed.

"Understood," said Grayfia. "I will inform the households, then." She bowed her head to them.

"Hey, Rias," said Riser. "Would these be your servants?"

Rias' eye twitched in irritation at the dismissive way he said that. "So what?" she asked defensively.

Riser started laughing. "Then, this match will be a laugh. Only your Queen, the Priestess of Thunder, can fight on par with my adorable servants." He clicked his fingers, and the magic circle on the floor started glowing again. There were more silhouettes in the ring than Zakaria had yet seen as a group of people transported into the room. 15 in all, all of them women. "These are my cute servants."

The one standing closest to Riser, presumably his Queen, was a voluptuous woman with long, wavy purple hair that fell her back, and matching eyes. At the front, the right side of her hair fell over her breast and covered her right eye, while the left side fell near the top of her skirt. She was wearing a dress consisting of a navy blue tunic top with gold accents and a pale blue skirt with open sides, black shoes, and matching thigh-high stockings with a garter belt. The top revealed much of her cleavage and was held with a gold choker with blue and red jewels. Over this, she had a white overcoat with black and gold accents and matching pauldrons. She accessorised with a black headband with a red-orange jewel over her forehead to keep her long hair in place. She also wore purple lipstick and nail polish, matching her eyes and hair. Zakaria had to admit that Riser had good taste in women if his Queen was anything to go by.

The next one Zakaria saw looked like she was related to Riser in some way. She was a young girl with dark blue eyes and long, blonde hair tied into twin tails with large, drill-like curls and blue ribbons keeping them in place. The front of her hair had several bangs hanging over her forehead, with a V-shaped fringe hanging over the bridge of her nose. Her outfit consisted of a light purple dress with dark purple accents and a blue bow at the front. At the back, three feather-like extensions mimicking a bird's tail protruded from the dress, which gave her a bird-like appearance.

The third had black hair tied up in odd bows on either side of her head, then allowed to droop down to her shoulders, and light brown eyes. She wore a Kimono with a colour pattern of purple, orange and pink.

The fourth had light brown hair and green eyes. Her outfit consisted of a full set of silver armour with black accents that appeared to be a cross between a European Knight (chest plate, gauntlets and greaves) and a Japanese Samurai (hip plates and shoulder guards), and a headband that went across her hair and forehead. She was equipped with a broadsword and a dagger, both of which were held with brown belts slung across her hips.

The fifth was a tall young woman with long black hair with a dark blue tint and brown eyes. Her hair featured five thin ponytails going around her head, which were held up by a golden hair accessory on top of her head. Her outfit consisted of a white top with black accents that appeared to be modelled after a Chinese cheongsam, red shorts, and armoured, knee-high boots with matching gauntlets. The top featured a diamond shape on the chest area, giving a view of her breasts and cleavage. There was a Zweihänder mounted on her back.

The sixth had short, light brown hair and grey eyes. Her hair had three red highlights across, and she wore a plain white mask which covered the right side of her face. Her outfit consisted of a black jacket and matching jeans. The coat had broad shoulders and a wide collar and featured three leather straps on both her arms. It was also slightly open, revealing her rather-large breasts and cleavage, and it was cut off at her midriff. Her jeans had a section (on her right pant leg) cut off, revealing some of her thighs and rear end, and also featured three leather straps on her calves, just below the ankles, and two extra straps on her right pant leg to keep it in place. She also wore black fighting gloves and boots. She looked like a tough one, and Zakaria liked that.

The seventh was a well-endowed young woman of Chinese descent with shoulder-length black hair and blue-green eyes. Her hair had two Chinese-style buns on both sides of her head, while the front featured bangs that form a slight V-shape across her forehead. Her outfit consisted of a navy blue qipao with gold accents, a white sash around her stomach, and black, low-heeled shoes. The qipao was open at the chest area, giving view to her breasts and cleavage. She also wore black arm-guards over her forearms.

The next two were a set of twins. They were very young girls with turquoise hair, which they kept tied to one side of their heads with a yellow ribbon (opposite to their sister), and blue eyes. Both of their outfits were gym uniforms, which consisted of white t-shirts with blue accents, black leggings, and blue sneakers over knee-high socks, similar to the Kuoh Academy's girls' gym uniforms, albeit without the school's logo for obvious reasons. They also wore orange wristbands on their left wrists. Those two being with a group of girls that just _screamed_ "harem" creeped Zakaria out immensely – and he had thought he hated this prick _before_.

The next two were also twins, though thankfully older. The significant differences between the two were that one had red eyes and blue hair while the other had blue eyes and red hair. One tied her hair in a ponytail while the other had hers in a braid with a pink bow tied at the end. They both had light brown cat ears with black stripes, and both had piercings in those ears: one had two gold earrings on her left ear, and the other had blue-coloured ones on her right. Similarly, both of them had a fang sticking out of their mouths, with one having hers to her left and the other having hers on her right, thus mirroring each other. Both of them wore short, skimpy, white sailor uniforms that revealed their abdomens, shoulders, and lower breasts, and short black skirts. They both had orange ascots which they tied in different ways to each other. They also had red and blue fighter's glove and leg guards matching their hair colours, respectively.

The next one had shoulder-length, light brown hair and dark brown eyes. She dressed in a buttoned, sleeveless, French maid uniform with a white laced design, along with a standard maid headpiece, cuffs, and a white half-apron to go with the set. She also wore light grey tights.

The next was also a maid. She had shoulder-length brown hair and blue eyes. She wore in a sleeveless French maid uniform that exposed her cleavage, with a white lace design on the edges, as well as a maid headpiece, half-apron, and forearm length finger-less gloves.

The next girl had long, pale blue hair and amber eyes. Her skin was tanned, and she was wearing a bikini made up of a metallic underwire brassiere and a silk loincloth that exposed her sides. She also wore a silver-coloured tiara and neck rings with a ruby and a sapphire. Other accessories she had were ruby orb earrings, a snake-themed bracelet on her upper arm, and a transparent pink veil across both her arms. She also had purple highlights around her eyes.

The last of Riser's Familia had blue hair styled with four short ponytails, with two of the four-pointed up and the remaining two pointed down while the front of her hair featured split bangs going across her forehead, with side bangs framing her face. Her eyes were light brown. Her outfit consisted of a white haori with a red obi, which was worn under a red happi coat. She wore bandages on her forearms and shins and wore black guards over her hands. For footwear, she had a pair of zōri.

_He used all fifteen Evil Pieces,_ Zakaria observed. _And all of them on girls … Something tells me that wasn't a coincidence._ He glanced over at Issei, knowing that having a harem was the guy's dream, and going by this Familia; it was entirely possible. _If demons can get away with stuff like this, I might have been too harsh on Tomio … oh well._ He took in Issei's expression: that of someone seeing their dream play out right before his eyes. He was even crying. _Of fucking course._ Zakaria couldn't even bring himself to be disappointed at this stage.

"H-Hey, Rias," Riser said, looking somewhat perturbed at the look Issei was giving him. "Your servant there seems to be crying a lot."

Rias put a hand against her forehead and sighed. "This boy's dream is to have a harem," she explained. "I think he was moved after looking at your servants."

"Gross," said one of the creepily young twins.

"Riser, this guy is freaking me out," said the other.

Riser calmed the two of them down by patting their heads. "Don't say that my sweets," he soothed them. "Looking up to their betters is what lowly ones do. Let's show them how passionate we are." He then began openly French kissing one of them. He wasn't even _trying_ to be decent about it; quite the opposite - he seemed to be going out of his way to make sure everyone in the room heard every smack of the lips and movement of the tongues.

"That is the most disgusting fucking thing I've ever seen," Zakaria said, openly disturbed. "How old _are_ those two?"

Nobody on Riser's Familia cared to answer, and nobody on Rias' wanted to think about it. Asia was beat red. Grayfia showed no emotion at all.

Riser separated from one twin and moved right on to the other as though nobody had spoken. Zakaria got the impression he was putting on a show on purpose, likely more to irritate Issei, who wanted a harem. Still, Zakaria's disgust was probably a nice bonus for him. This went on for an uncomfortably long time before he separated from her and looked Issei dead in the eyes. "You will never be able to do this," he said.

"Don't you say that to me!" Issei shouted in rage. "Sacred Gear!" He summoned his Sacred Gear and got into a combative stance. "A womaniser like you isn't good enough to be with Prez!"

"Huh?" Riser asked in smug, faux-confusion. "Weren't you just looking up to this so-called womaniser?"

"Sh-Shut up! The thing with Prez was different! It looks like you'll keep doing it with different girls even after you marry Prez!"

Riser shrugged. "Heroes love women. Isn't that a saying in the human world? I just have a close relationship with my servants. It's not that weird for demons. Don't you also get this kind of attention from Rias?"

"Hero my ass! You're just some bird guy! Firebird phoenix? Ha! You're just a piece of Kentucky Fried Chicken!"

… _Okay, he gets points for that one,_ Zakaria thought in amusement. "I would say more _Cunt_ ucky Fried Chicken, myself," he threw in.

Riser duly ignored him because he was busy seething at Issei's initial insult. "F-Fried chicken? You stinking reincarnated demon! Don't get ahead of yourself! That's no way to talk to your betters! Rias, why is there such a lack of discipline amongst your servants!?"

"Like I care," said Rias.

"Hey, fried chicken guy!" Issei taunted him. "I dunno what it does yet, but I bet I can still wreck your shit with my Sacred Gear! We don't need to have a game! I'll just take you down right here, right now!"

[Boost!] came a voice from Issei's Sacred Gear.

Zakaria felt a swell of energy coming from Issei. _Interesting …_

Riser, however, was unimpressed. "Mira," he said. "Do it."

"Yes, Riser," said the servant with the four ponytails. She took out her staff and got into a battle pose, swinging it around in front of her. Issei seemed unintimidated and took a step towards her. She promptly swung her staff around and nailed him in the stomach, knocking him backwards and onto the floor several feet away. He groaned in pain. Asia rushed over to him immediately and started healing.

Riser approached, too, kneeling beside him. "You are weak," he said bluntly. "The one you just fought is my Pawn, Mira. She's the weakest of my servants, but she has more than enough experience and talent to trounce a whelp like you. Sacred Gear? Huh." He looked at Issei's Sacred Gear with interest, then briefly made eye contact with Rias. If Zakaria had to guess, they both figured out more about Issei's Sacred Gear than they were letting on. "But this match has the potential to be interesting," he announced, standing up and facing Rias. "Rias, how about we have the match in ten days? We could do it now, but that wouldn't be interesting."

"… Are you giving me a _handicap_?" Rias asked, sounding offended at the very implication.

"Are you against it? Is it humiliating? A Rating Game isn't something you can win with only your feelings. If you can't use your servants' power to the fullest, you _will_ lose immediately. So it's not weird for you to train with your servants for your first Rating Game. I have seen demons lose due to not being able to utilise their Familia's power to the fullest countless times, no matter how great the potential of that power was." Rias was silent as Riser, and his servants stepped back inside the magic circle. "Ten days, Rias. I trust you'll be able to improve your servants by then." He turned his gaze to Issei, and it hardened. "Don't be a disgrace to Rias, Pawn. A blow to you is a blow to your master. When next we meet, it will be at the game."

With a flash of light, Riser and his servants were gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EDITING NOTICE: I have gone back and edited the previous chapters to be more in line with the official English release of the High School DxD light novel. If you have not yet picked up a copy of High School DxD, Vol. 1: Diabolos of the Old School Building, then please support the official release by doing so!
> 
> The main changes are: they're called demons and not Devils, a group of demons is called a Familia and not a Peerage, and the name of the stray demon is Byser and not Viser. Those are the important ones. Everything else is just small changes to the dialogue and the capitalisation of certain words.

"So we're goin' on a trip?" Ignisia asked.

" _We_ aren't going anywhere," Zakaria said as he packed spare clothes for the ten-day trip into the mountains for training.

Ignisia growled. "You ain't leavin' me here on my own!" she protested.

"No, I'm not. I have a job for you."

"… You do?" Ignisia's surprise was understandable. Other than handing out fliers in the evenings, Zakaria hadn't given her anything to do yet. He didn't _have_ anything he wanted her to do, at least not something he would admit out loud at this stage.

Zakaria took a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I wrote this out as soon as the meeting was over. I need you to get me these items by the time of the Rating Game."

Ignisia looked over the list, her eyes widening more and more as she got further down. "Are … Are you planning on killing yourself or something?" she asked in genuine concern.

"No," he denied.

"But why … why would you _need_ this stuff?"

"Because it's just as dangerous to everyone else as it is to me." He zipped up the bag he had been packing his clothes into and started to carry it out of the room. "Make sure you've got that stuff to me by the end of the training period, please."

"I'm serious," she insisted. "You could seriously fuckin' hurt yourself with this shit, dude."

" _Ignisia_ ," Zakaria snapped. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Don't worry about it. I know what I'm doing."

"… Okay. I'll get it for you."

"Thanks. See you in ten days." He left the room.

Ignisia reread the list to make sure she hadn't imagined what she had read.

* * *

Zakaria breathed slightly more massive than usual as he hiked up the mountain. He was carrying quite a lot of bags on his back. That was Rias' idea. Asia tagging along was also Rias' idea. She wanted to take the opportunity to teach a bit more about the other factions while they were here, and since Asia used to be part of the church, she seemed like a good asset for such an endeavour. If Zakaria were the type to admire his surroundings, he would probably be having a blast. It was a lovely day out, and this mountain was covered in trees and greenery rather than being covered with snow ( _God_ knows Zakaria has had enough of snow in his life). He could even feel himself getting a good workout from working his way up this incredibly steep surface.

So he decided to crack open a cold one.

" _Really_ … dude …?" Issei huffed from behind him. He was struggling the most out of any of them. The one struggling the least was, naturally, Koneko, who had a practical mountain of luggage on her back and wasn't even breaking a sweat. "You … packed … _booze_ …?"

"Why not?" Zakaria asked as he took a swig of lager from the can he'd just opened.

"We're here to _train_ , Zakaria!" Rias called from ahead of them. "We're not on a booze cruise!"

"Why do you care, anyway, Cannon Fodder?" Zakaria asked Issei, completely ignoring Rias' comment. "You struggling back there?"

"Screw you … asshole," Issei groaned. "You … don't need … to rub it in …"

"You probably rub it in yourself every night. And morning. And during the day on weekends."

"I hate you."

"Whatever."

"… Say … how do you know when you're drunk …?"

"Huh?"

"You … banged those … fallen angel babes … while you were smashed … right? … How can you … tell … when you're drunk … when you never seem … to be sober …?"

"…"

"… Zakaria?"

Issei could not see Zakaria's face, but his silence was worrying all the same. If he _could_ have seen Zakaria's face, he would have seen that hard, uncaring expression drop. He would have seen the mask come off. He would have seen the anguish, the pain, the trauma Zakaria was carrying with him all the time but was trying to ignore, keeping locked away. He would have seen the real Zakaria Holland for the first time. But he didn't. He never saw Zakaria's face. _None_ of them looked at him at that moment, so the man under the mask went unseen.

"… _I don't_ want _to be sober …_ " Zakaria said in an inaudible tone.

Nobody heard it. Not even Issei.

Zakaria put the mask back up and marched on in silence.

However, Zakaria only _believed_ that nobody heard him. Since he was facing the top of the hill, he never saw a certain silverette's ears twitch after his comment from her place climbing the hill behind him.

* * *

Their destination at the top of the mountain was a wooden mansion owned by the Gremory family. According to Rias, the place was usually hidden from human eyes through the use of demonic power. It was only being allowed to appear now because they were going to be staying inside it during the training period. The scent of the wood was pleasant as they entered.

Issei walked into the living room, put his bags down, and collapsed to the floor.

"All right, everyone," said Rias. "Find your rooms and get changed. We'll meet up down here when we're done."

"You've gotta get up the stairs yet, Cannon Fodder," Zakaria commented to Issei as he walked past and to the stairs.

"No peaking," Yuuto added.

" _I will fucking punch you, Kiba_!" Issei growled from where he'd collapsed.

Zakaria walked up the stairs and took the first unoccupied room. He wasted no time in dumping his bags beside the large double bed. He stared at the bags for a moment, lamenting the fact that Rias had only let him bring one six-pack of beer, and he had already drunk one of those on the way up. This was going to be a rough ten days.

He unzipped one of the bags, in which was contained a tracksuit, and began to strip off his clothes. He felt vulnerable like this. Almost every inch of his body was scarred, grim reminders of days passed. Like a map of every shitty thing that had ever happened to him. As far as he knew, the fallen angels had not reacted to the state of his body when they fucked, but he had been blackout drunk at the time, so he did not know for sure. He hated feeling vulnerable. Mainly when so many of those present had already seen him out of clothing. Rias and Akeno saw him on the night of his arrival while he was being healed (a process he was pleased he was unconscious for so that he could avoid any telling bodily reactions to being pressed up against an attractive, naked young woman). Two was not a significant number to some, but in this context, it was huge.

He put on his tracksuit, which was black with white highlights, and went straight back downstairs. He passed by Issei, who was only just going up to get changed, on the way down.

The others all got back downstairs before Issei, who came back down a few minutes after Koneko.

Rias smiled when she saw him coming down the stairs. "Now let's get outside and get started," she said.

* * *

**Lesson #1: Sword Training**

Zakaria weighed up the bokuto in his hand. It was longer and lighter than what he was used to. He had been using his machete for … about six years, by his estimate, and he had gotten used to it. Standing with the bokuto in two hands just felt awkward, so he held it in his right hand like he would his machete. He had been banned from using his telekinesis for this exercise. That would be trained later.

Yuuto saw his stance, which did not precisely match the weapon he was using, and shrugged before charging forward. He was not using his Knight speed in full, but he was still faster than an average person.

Zakaria raised his bokuto, and the wooden swords made a clacking sound as they collided.

"Good," said Yuuto.

He pulled his bokuto away at rapid speed and turned it to the side. He swung it sideways at Zakaria's right side. Zakaria tried but failed to move his bokuto to the same side quickly enough, for his bokuto was in his right hand and thrusting it into that position required some awkward movements of his arm. The impact of Yuuto's bokuto on his rips caused little reaction in him since he'd had much worse, but it still illustrated his failure.

"You rely on your powers too much," Yuuto observed. "Without them, your movements are clumsy and too straightforward. I'm guessing you aren't used to opponents who know how to use a sword?"

"Haven't had too many opponents who even _use_ swords," Zakaria admitted. "Usually, I just hack at it until it's dead, and any extra snazzy moves come courtesy of my telekinesis."

"Well, you at least have better reflexes than Hyoudou," Yuuto joked.

"Screw you, Kiba," Issei huffed from the side, having already tired himself out from sword training.

"Nevertheless, we'll need to keep working on it." He stepped back and got back into a battle stance. "Ready yourself."

* * *

**Lesson #2: Demonic Power**

Zakaria, Issei, and Akeno were sitting on the grass outside.

"You gather the demonic power by drifting the aura that surrounds your body," Akeno explained. "You have to concentrate and _feel_ it."

Zakaria ignored Issei, who was comically struggling to concentrate, and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind, something he was very accustomed to doing, and felt the aura of demonic power surrounding his body. It was not the first time he had felt his own body like this – he did so every time he levitated his body for whatever reason – so this was an easy process. He found the demonic power quickly, it being a new addition he had noticed when he was floating through the sewers with Asia during the incident with the fallen angels, and urged it towards his outstretched hand, not with his powers (what would be the point of this if he had to use his telekinesis to do it?) but simply with his will.

He felt something leave him and hover above his hand.

He opened his eyes and saw it, a sphere the size of a tennis ball, pitch black. No, it was _darker_ than that. A void. A ball of _nothingness_ hovering over his hand.

Akeno hummed with interest. "Your demonic power is the darkest I've ever seen," she observed. "I suppose it's no wonder you have a talent for this skill in particular given that you already had supernatural powers before becoming a demon."

"Nothing like this, though," said Zakaria. He was slightly awed by the power he held in his hand. This little ball … _infinite_ possibilities. "Even with my mental powers, I've never felt power like this before." _I like it_ went unsaid.

Issei eventually managed to get a small ball, crimson red, about the size of a grain of rice.

"Now we transform that demonic power into fire, water, and lightning," Akeno said once both of her students (the irony of a member of the school's staff was learning from her was not lost on her) had managed. "All using demonic power takes is imagination, although for beginners, it's far easier to just move the existing elements rather than creating them outright." To demonstrate, she raised her hand in the direction of a water bottle she had set out in front of her. Almost immediately, the water inside froze into ice and, not only that, it spiked out, ripping the bottle to shreds in the process. "Zakaria, I want you to copy what I did just now. You might just get a treat if you do well." She winked. "Issei, I want you to continue concentrating on your demonic power. The source of demonic power is imagination. It's important to materialise something you can imagine vividly."

Zakaria, meanwhile, turned his attention towards a water bottle. _Fucking ice,_ he thought with distaste. He hated the cold. He swallowed that distaste, however, and pictured in his mind's eye, the water in the bottle freezing and exploding the bottle as Akeno had done. He concentrated his demonic power, having a far easier time of it now that he had put such concentration into moving it the first time, and outstretched his hand. A second or two passed before the result showed itself. What erupted from that bottle was like a small iceberg. It ripped through the bottle and kept going until it was roughly three feet in every direction.

"Wonderful work, Zakaria," Akeno praised, coming up behind him and leaning down to admire his work. He tried not to notice the way the two most significant parts of her chest were swinging over his head. "I daresay we've found your niche. Now, about that treat I promised …"

"There's no need," Zakaria protested in vain.

Akeno cupped the underside of his chin with one hand and pushed it up so that Zakaria's face was pointed upwards. As Akeno leaned down towards him, he could feel the _barest_ brush of her large breasts on the top of his head. She planted her lips on his forehead and gave him a kiss that lasted about six seconds. "You'll have to impress me if you want to take that any further," she teased as she moved to continue instructing Issei, who was glaring holes in Zakaria with jealousy.

Zakaria both did and didn't want Akeno to take it further.

* * *

**Lesson #3: Sparring**

Zakaria barely resisted the urge to wince as Issei was punched through the tenth tree in a row. He would not try to claim any expertise at hand-to-hand combat himself, for he had no formal training and relied mostly upon improvisation and his powers all these years, but he was confident he could not do much worse than Issei was right now. He also doubted – _hoped_ – that Koneko's slight look of relish would not carry over to his sparring session with her.

The scariest part was that she was holding back.

"Punch straight and harder," she instructed Issei. "If you're not trying to punch through me, you're not trying hard enough." She turned to Zakaria. Her blank stare was rid of the air of satisfaction it had when she was hammering Issei. "Your turn."

Zakaria raised his fists a tad clumsily. He was not used to physical fighting without a weapon.

"Fix your stance," Koneko instructed. "Legs a little further apart."

"If you nut shot me, I will _legitimately_ murder you," Zakaria warned as he did as she told him.

"Don't worry. You're not him."

Issei let out a pained groan from off to the side.

"Go," Koneko ordered, and the two charged at each other.

Koneko threw her first punch at Zakaria's chest. He saw this coming and jumped, throwing himself forward with his momentum and flipping over Koneko's head. He turned around as soon as he landed again, his feet skidding in a circle due to the sudden stop, and threw a hard punch at the back of Koneko's head. _Crack_ was the sound the bones of his fist made when he hit her. Despite the pain running through his fingers, he did not so much as flinch.

The same cannot be said for when Koneko swung around, a foot outstretched, and kicked his legs out from under him. On instinct, he caught himself with his telekinesis and hovered there, just above the ground.

At perfect punting height.

And punt Koneko did. She delivered a sharp kick directly to his chest, and he flew, sideways, into some trees, crashing through every one as though they were no more than mere twigs in his path. When he finally came to a stop, he lay there in a daze for several moments. There was now a large scar in the woods where he had taken out the trees. He suspected he had been kicked over a hundred feet away.

"You don't do a lot of hand-to-hand fighting," Koneko said in observation upon walking up to him.

"I don't," he confirmed.

"You should learn. The ability to Promote to a Rook will be no good if you can't fight properly with it. Let's go again."

For the first time, Zakaria genuinely empathised with Issei. He, too, was getting his ass kicked six ways from Sunday by the petite girl who was their combat instructor at this time. This was also the first time in a long time that Zakaria genuinely doubted his survival ability. If this was training for what essentially amounted to demonic _children_ , then this world was likely a lot more dangerous than he had initially suspected. _And here I thought this place was safer than home,_ he thought in resignation.

* * *

**Lesson #4: General Exercises**

Zakaria and Issei did some exercises which involved walking up and down the mountain with giant rocks tied to their backs. Rias was sitting on top of the rock Issei had. Zakaria handled it fine while Issei was out of breath before the first lap was even half-done. After that, they did exercises such as push-ups, also with rocks tied to their backs. There is nothing else to report.

* * *

"It's delicious! It's so delicious!" Issei exclaimed as he tucked into the extravagant food spread across the dining room table.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Zakaria said in irritation. He was far slower in his eating, really savouring each bite of the food. Those herbs and spices Yuuto collected from the woods earlier really enhanced the taste. It was also somewhat fun to know that Rias had killed that boar herself. Hell, _all_ the meat on the table was caught and killed by someone sitting at it. "And chew your food. You can't taste it if you're wolfing it down like that."

"Yes, _dad_ ," Issei said sarcastically.

"He is right, though," said Rias.

"There's plenty left, so have as much as you like," Akeno said happily.

It was an invitation that they all took to heart. Having been training from the literal start of their journey up the mountain that morning, they were all running on fumes, so such a large dinner was a pure Satan-send. Even Zakaria, who rarely ate more than he needed to, found himself engaging in gluttony when it came to the spread on the table. He weighed it up in his head for a few moments before deciding he couldn't _not_ compliment how good the food was. "This is all delicious, Akeno," he complimented their chef for the evening. "You're a fantastic cook."

"Oh my. Compliments from Zakaria?" Akeno chuckled softly. "I'm honoured. If only you would accept the other offer I made, I'm sure you would find my services pleasing~"

" _Lucky prick_ ," Issei mumbled into his bowl.

"I made the soup," Asia spoke up from beside Issei. Even though it seemed like a general statement, her eyes were fixed on Issei, awaiting his opinion.

Issei, clearly far less dense than Zakaria gave him credit for, immediately got a bowl of the soup and drank it all down. It was practically a single gulp. "It's good, Asia!" he praised. "Go ahead and give me some more!"

"It is!?" Asia gasped bashfully. She immediately moved to refill his bowl.

_That girl is infatuated,_ Zakaria observed with a small smirk.

"Now, you two," Rias spoke up, addressing Issei and Zakaria. "From today's training, what did we find out?"

"That I'm the weakest one here," Issei responded, depressed.

"That my over-reliance on telekinesis won't serve me as well here as it did back home," Zakaria said without batting an eyelid. "Where I'm from, magic and such wasn't prevalent, so I was pretty strong by my world's standards. Here, though, I'm pretty low in the pecking order. Only thing I picked up on easily was demonic power."

"You're both aware of and acknowledge your positions, good," Rias said, pleased. "Akeno, Yuuto, and Koneko already have lots of battle experience even though they haven't participated in the game so that they can fight already. But you two don't have any real experience yet. I admire your improvisation, Zakaria, but against opponents who have trained in their styles, usually for years, you're not always going to be able to find an easy way out with psychic powers and randomly hacking your machete. Even so, your telekinesis and Issei's Sacred Gear aren't things we can afford to ignore. Even the enemy knows that thanks to your little display yesterday. I want you to have the power to at least run away from the enemy."

"Can do," said Zakaria. "I've been running for years."

"Is running that hard?" Issei asked.

"Yes," Zakaria said before Rias could say anything. "Running from battle is hard, especially if others are fighting. You feel like a coward, you feel like you could be doing more, but the logical part of your mind tells you that you can't. Listening to logic rather than your emotions is a difficult skill since nobody ever really has control of their feelings—" _So why do you try?_ a traitorous voice whispered in his head, "—but sometimes, it can be essential for keeping yourself alive."

"… Not really what I was going for, but still a factor," said Rias. "Running can also be part of a strategy. Running away to regroup and rethink the plan is also something that you may have to do. However, running away with your back to the enemy is a dangerous game. If they have roughly the same power level as you or lower, it's not so dangerous, but if they're stronger than you, showing your back to them is the same as shouting, 'Kill me! Kill me!' Being able to run away from such enemies is also an important thing to learn. So I have to teach you how to do that in addition to making sure you can take the enemy head-on."

"Roger that," Issei said contemplatively.

Zakaria just nodded at her. "And don't be afraid to fight dirty," he said, more to Issei than anyone else. "Being an 'honour before reason' type can and likely _will_ get you killed. Kick dirt in their eyes, go for the genitals if they leave them open, stab them in the back before the fight even starts if you can. In a fight, a _real_ battle, the goal is to win and survive, not make your opponent feel okay about losing."

Yuuto twisted his face up like he just smelled something wrong. "As a Knight, I'm afraid I can't agree," he said, though not in a particularly argumentative tone.

Zakaria shrugged. "Depends on how you want to take your role as a Knight."

"Let's take a bath after this," said Rias. Issei perked up at her words. "It's an outdoor bath heated by natural hot springs, so it's quite wonderful."

"I'm not going to peek, Issei," Yuuto said as though he'd read Issei's mind.

"I'm astounded your libido hasn't gotten you arrested yet," Zakaria said, shaking his head.

"Sh-Shut up!" Issei shouted at them.

"Oh, Issei," said Rias. "Did you want a peek at us while we're taking a bath?"

Suddenly, all eyes were on Issei (though Zakaria took a second – he had to make sure Rias meant what she just said, and then he wondered what women were like in this world that offering to let a guy look at the group while they were taking a bath was spoken like it was perfectly normal).

Rias chuckled at the embarrassed expression on Issei's face. "Then you can bathe with us," she said. "I don't mind. What about you, Akeno?"

"Sorry, Rias, but I'll have to say no," said Akeno, causing Issei to deflate. "I have my eyes set on a different gentleman." She batted her eyes at Zakaria, who turned away with a barely-noticeable blush on his face.

"That's a shame," said Rias, standing up. "I suppose it's pointless to ask Asia and Koneko, then."

"… I'd have died first, anyway," Koneko said, glaring at Issei. "If you try to peek, I will kill you."

"Don't worry about it, Issei," said Yuuto. "We guys can take a bath together when they're done. I can even wash your back."

"Shut uuuuuuuup!" Issei shouted aggressively. "I will seriously end you, Kiba!"

"… Kids," Zakaria sighed.

* * *

The following morning, the training wasn't physical. Instead, they were being taught more things about the supernatural world. Zakaria didn't see how this helped them right now when the Rating Game was for fighting, but Rias had shot down those complaints and told him this knowledge was essential. He knew better than to argue with her at this point.

It had been like being back in school. While Zakaria's school life hadn't been what you'd call ideal, it was still miles better than his life had been since—being lectured felt pleasantly nostalgic as a result.

Then came the pop quiz.

"This question is about our greatest enemies, the angels who are led by God," said Yuuto. "What is the name given to the highest-ranking angels, and what are the names of the individuals within this rank."

"They're called the Seraphim," Zakaria answered. "The four of them are named Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel."

"Correct. Next is our Satans. What are the names of the Four Great Satans?"

"Piece of cake!" Issei announced. "I'm planning to meet them when I get a Familia, so I memorised all their names! Lucifer, Beelzebub, and Asmodeus! And last, but certainly not least, the female Satan Leviathan!"

"Correct."

"I'm going to meet Lady Leviathan!"

"You're not missing much," Zakaria said idly, recalling Serafall's hyperactive personality. "She's a little too loud and very bouncy. No concept of personal space at all."

Issei looked at him in annoyance. "You've seriously met her already!? Man, you have all the luck!"

"I disagree."

"Can we get back on topic?" Yuuto asked awkwardly. "Next are those fallen angels you hate so much, Issei. What are the names of their leaders?"

"The main group of fallen angels is called … 'Grigori,' I think," Issei answered. "Their Governor is Azazel, and their Vice-Governor is Shemhaza. Those, I know … I think the others are … Armaros … Baraqiel … Tamiel … Ah, and, hmmm … huh? Bene-something and Cocaine …?"

"That's Benemue, Kokabiel, and Sahariel," Zakaria finished off for him. "Quite a lot of powerful angels fell. One has to wonder what they all did for the almighty prick to give them the boot."

"Those answers are correct," said Yuuto. "Your attitude towards God surprises me a little, Zakaria. It's normal for demons to hate Him, but you haven't been one of us for all that long."

"He hasn't exactly done me any favours, let's put it that way."

"… I don't think we should dig any deeper into that," Issei commented awkwardly.

* * *

"Now I, Asia Argento, will be explaining the basics of exorcists," Asia said awkwardly after clearing her throat. Issei gave a small round of applause, which then turned her face bright red. "U-Umm. Back in the church, there were two types of exorcists."

"Two types?" Issei questioned.

Asia nodded. "The first type are the ones you see in films and books. The father reads a section of the Bible and uses holy water to remove the demon from a person's body. These are the public exorcists, the ones that the church doesn't mind people knowing about."

"I think I met one of those guys back home once," Zakaria commented. "Or … I dunno, my memory of that time is a tad fuzzy. I might've met him, but he might've just been in the same place. I can't say for sure."

"You had demons back in your universe?" Rias asked in interest.

"Yes. But don't get too excited; they were _nothing_ like you. You guys are practically _human_ compared to those things. You know those demons humans write about in horror books? The whole 'possess your body, steal your soul, and do all sorts of pointless evil' types? _That_ was the reality back in my world. Real nasty customers."

"How is your memory fuzzy?" Issei spoke up. "You've never complained about that sort of thing before."

"Yes, well, I wasn't undergoing regular electroshock therapy during the rest of my life. I _was_ during that time. My recollection of events is a bit unreliable as a result."

"…"

Nobody had anything to say to that.

Rias cleared her throat. "Asia, if you could continue," she urged.

"Y-Yes," said the horrified former-nun. "Th-The exorcists behind the scenes are the ones you demons need to worry about."

"I believe you met one before, Zakaria," said Rias. "The greatest threats to demons are those exorcists who receive diving protection from God or stray exorcists being given refuge by the fallen angels. We've been fighting against them for a very long time behind the scenes. These exorcists are armed with weapons of light granted to them by the angels, and their bodies are hardened, specially trained to combat the supernatural."

"Hopefully, they're not all as psychotic as Freed," said Zakaria. "It's a shame I didn't have a chance to kill him. The world would be better off."

Rias picked up a small vile from the table and held it between her thumb and forefinger. Her facial expression was one of absolute disgust. "This is holy water," she said. "Simply put, you touch it, you burn."

"I can make it if you need it," Asia added. "Though I'm not sure why you would."

"President, I have a question," Zakaria spoke up again. Rias looked upon him with interest. "In this Rating Game, how badly are we allowed to hurt the other side?" Everyone looked upon him when he asked that, most with concerned expressions that suggested he was giving a terrible impression of himself, but one of them held a different expression: intrigue and excitement. That was Akeno. Zakaria got the feeling he had just made her evident attraction to him even stronger somehow.

"… The Rating Game system is made to evacuate any participant before an injury becomes fatal," Rias said slowly. "As a result, there are no rules for how much you're allowed to harm your opponents since the system will take care of it before it becomes a problem. Granted, there _have_ been accidental deaths in Rating Games before, but due to the way the system is set up, these instances were always considered a fault in the system and the person making the killing was never punished. At least, not officially. You can't punish someone for murder when the system is set up specifically so that you can't kill people."

"Noted," said Zakaria. "Thank you for the information."

"… Why do I get the feeling I just opened a door we'll all regret seeing inside of?"

* * *

A few days passed by after their study of the things the demons' natural enemies would attack them with. They had been training the whole time. Issei was doing the worst out of everyone, but Zakaria wasn't too far ahead himself. He knew now that this was a wakeup call he needed. Despite all the skills he had picked up for survival throughout his life, it was not enough to survive in this new universe. He had to evolve.

And evolve was what he intended to do.

_Something's changed between them,_ Zakaria thought as he observed Issei and Rias. He was a light sleeper, and he didn't always sleep at all, so he tended to know when people left their rooms in the night. Issei and Rias were both downstairs at the same time for quite a while the night before, and this morning, when Zakaria had gone downstairs for breakfast, there was something between them that wasn't there back. At least, it hadn't been _mutual_ before. Issei still seemed the same, but Rias' behaviour towards him was subtly different. Those teasing remarks of hers seemed a lot more _genuine_ now. _I wonder what they talked about last night …?_

In a way, Zakaria felt happy for Issei. He may have been critical of his extreme sex drive, but he didn't _hate_ the kid or even really dislike him that much. He had been a teenager once, after all. He supposed this was just what adulthood did to people. Before he knew it, he would be a cranky old man saying things like "Get off my lawn!" and "That noise isn't music!"

They had eaten breakfast, and now everyone was gathered outside. Issei was standing across from Yuuto, who had a bokuto out.

"Use your Sacred Gear, Issei," Rias ordered. "We'll start this mock-battle two minutes after you bring it out."

"Y-Yes," Issei said, summoning his Sacred Gear to his arm.

_Doesn't that look … different from before?_ Zakaria thought as he looked at it. It seemed bulkier, somehow, and almost like a clawed hand rather than a gauntlet. _How interesting …_

" _Boost!_ " came the voice of Issei's Sacred Gear.

Nothing else was said. They just stood there, waiting. And then, ten seconds after the gauntlet had spoken …

" _Boost!_ " it said again.

_It only boosted him once before,_ Zakaria thought, recalling the meeting with Riser when Issei had gotten riled up. His Sacred Gear had remained out for a while without boosting him again. Zakaria reached out with his mind and felt Issei's power. It had doubled again.

" _Boost!_ " it said again after ten more seconds.

For two minutes, this went on. By the end of the allotted time, Issei's Sacred Gear had doubled his power a total of 12 times. "Let's do this, Sacred Gear!" Issei said with more determination in his voice than ever.

" _Explosion!_ " his Sacred Gear's voice boomed. True to the word, all the built-up power within Issei _exploded_ outwards. It was like the energy was merely being stored within him up to that point, and only now was he able to use it. It radiated off of him like it was overflowing.

Yuuto got into a combat stance.

"Issei, do you want to use a sword?" Rias asked. "Or do you want to fight bare-handed?"

"Bare-handed!" Issei declared without an ounce of hesitation.

"Very well. Now then, begin."

Yuuto vanished from sight. The speed of a Knight was a truly terrifying thing. Issei stood there, the only one visible of the two combatants, looking around cautiously. Then, with no visual warning whatsoever, he raised his left arm. A split-second later, Yuuto's bokuto collided with his Sacred Gear. Yuuto's face twisted into an expression of shock, and Zakaria couldn't help but be impressed either. Issei had blocked one of Yuuto's attacks.

Unfortunately, this moment of minor victory did not last long. Issei drew his fist back to throw a punch, but he hit nothing but the air as Yuuto vanished again. Again, a few seconds passed, and nothing happened.

_CRACK!_

The sound of Yuuto's bokuto hitting Issei square on the top of the head was heard before Yuuto himself reappeared. He was in the air, right above Issei's head. Issei raised his hands on instinct, clutching the spot on his head where he'd been hit, and kicked out, intending to hit Yuuto as he landed, but before he had even hit the floor, he was gone. Issei's kick, like his punch before it, hit nothing but air.

"Issei!" Rias called out to him. "Fire off some demonic power!"

Issei looked confused, but he didn't question it. He held his palm outstretched. A ball of demonic power, no bigger than a grain of rice, appeared at the palm of his hand. Despite the energy radiating off of Issei, Zakaria found himself underwhelmed as Issei still hadn't improved his output of demonic power.

That was until he fired it.

_GUOOOOOOOOOO!_

That small, rice-sized ball of demonic power expanded the second it was fired. It still wasn't what you'd call _huge_ , but it was about the size of a small rock. The size, however, didn't matter. The _power_ Zakaria felt from that thing as it was fired …

The fact that it missed Yuuto didn't even register until—

_BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!_

The top of the mountain across from the one they were training on _exploded_ as Issei's blast of demonic power collided with it.

" _Holy shit_ ," Zakaria muttered.

" _Reset!_ " Issei's Sacred Gear said as the aura of power Issei had been giving off faded.

"I'll have the both of you stop it there," Rias announced. Yuuto got out of his stance, and Issei collapsed onto the grass. "Good job, you two. Yuuto, what did you make of that?"

"To tell you the truth, I'm astonished," said Yuuto. "I tried to finish that fight in one blow. But I couldn't break through Issei's guard. Even that whack to the head I tried to knock him down with didn't do anything. He's insanely durable. I even enhanced my bokuto with demonic power, yet I think if I'd continued, I would have found myself without a weapon."

"Thank you, Yuuto," said Rias. She walked over to Issei and examined his Sacred Gear. A smile came over her face. "Issei, you said you were the weakest one here, right?"

"Y-Yes," Issei said shamefully.

"You were half-right. When you hadn't fully activated your Sacred Gear, you were weak. But this …" She traced her hand over the symbol on Issei's Sacred Gear. "The Red Dragon … this mark wasn't here before. Issei, when you first used your Sacred Gear, you could only double your power once, right? But not anymore. This is the Boosted Gear, the Gauntlet of the Red Dragon Emperor. The symbol of the Red Dragon proves it. If the legends are true, and I think the test we performed here today proves that, then it doubles the user's power every ten seconds. Even if you start at level one, you could surpass even the most powerful of demons and fallen angels with enough time. Legend has it that one who masters it could even vanquish God Himself."

For the first time in recent memory, Zakaria felt his jaw _drop_ in shock. _… I think Cannon Fodder might be an inappropriate nickname for this one …_ he thought.

"The attack you just did held the power of a High-Class demon, right up there with something Riser or I could pull off," Rias went on, surprising Issei even further. "If you hadn't done all the training you have over the last few days, I doubt you would have been able to pull it off. As much as I hate to admit it, this handicap was a good thing for us." She stood up and looked around at all of them. "We still have a few more days of training to go, so let's put our all into this, people!"

Everybody responded in the affirmative.

The day of the Rating Game was upon them before they knew it.


	7. Chapter 7

_It's good to be back,_ Zakaria thought as he chugged from a can of beer fresh out of the fridge in his apartment. Making those six cans last the whole ten days had been a bitch, and he hadn't quite managed it. He took a sip now and then, yet still only managed to make it last for seven days. That was three days with no booze. Being a demon bumped up his immune system or something since the withdrawal symptoms took longer to manifest than they used to when he was human. It took almost 24 full hours for the shaking to start where it used only to take five. Hiding that had been complicated, but he thought he managed it. He could continuously hear his pulse in his ears as his heart rate picked up like a fucking jet engine, but he worked it.

But now he was home, he was drinking again, and all was right with the world.

He went back to filling up his duffel bag with the items Ignisia had procured for him while he was away. "You did good, Ignisia," he praised her. He handled each item with care, though still less respect than he probably _should_ have since he was making no effort to cover his hands when handling some of the things.

Ignisia puffed her chest out at the praise. "You fuckin' know it," she said. "I still think you're a lunatic for wantin' this stuff, but holy shit, are you gonna turn some heads if this works."

"Probably, but that's not my intent. This simply provides me with the best chance of winning I could think of. My powers should make it all safe to handle."

"So why ain't you usin' them now?"

"To save my power for later, when I'll need it." With the last of the items packed away, Zakaria zipped up his duffel bag and stood up, slinging it over his shoulder. He walked over to the fridge and grabbed one last beer for the road. "Well, I'll be heading off now. I'll see you when this shit-show is over." He made his way over to the magic circle.

"H-Hey, wait a sec!" Ignisia called after him. He might have been imagining it, but he thought she sounded almost _embarrassed_.

It was the difference in her tone from the usual, which led him to turn back to her. "What's up?"

Something hot and moist pressed up against his lips. It took a second of staring directly into Ignisia's eyes for it to register that she was kissing him. She pulled away just as quickly as she had started. "Good luck, boss," she said.

Zakaria could not help the small smile that tugged at his lips. "Thanks," he said. Then he stepped into the magic circle.

* * *

The atmosphere in the clubroom had some hefty weight to it as the Occult Research Club awaited the start of their battle. Zakaria had finished his beer and thrown away the can a few minutes before. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this nervous. Despite everything he'd been through, those ten days of training had taught him he had a lot of catching up to do with the supernatural forces of this world, yet here he was, about to partake in a fight against a group with far more experience than him. He had a plan that he thought would work out, but the feeling of dread still refused to leave him. He tried to remind himself that none of the others here had Rating Game experience, so they were all at a disadvantage, but somehow, thinking of the others' lack of experience made that feeling of dread grow worse.

All the students were in their school uniforms, so Zakaria was wearing his work attire in solidarity. Yuuto came with gauntlets on his hands and some armour on his lower legs. Koneko was wearing fingerless gloves. Rias and Akeno were the calmest of everyone there, simply sipping at green tea as they waited. Zakaria kept toying with his machete.

He glanced at the clock. _Ten minutes_.

As if she had been cued to appear as soon as he thought that, the magic circle at the centre of the room glowed and Grayfia appeared in the room. "Is everybody ready?" she asked. "You have ten minutes until the match begins." Everybody stood up from their seats to show that they were ready. "When the time comes to start the battle, you will all be transported to the chosen battlefield through this magic circle. The battlefield itself is located in a pocket dimension, specifically for this purpose. You may fight however you see fit. It's a disposable face, so there is no need to hold anything back."

"Good," Zakaria said quietly to himself.

Grayfia, however, caught it and faced him. "You appear to be bringing quite a lot of gear," she observed, eyeing his duffel bag.

"This? This is just a surprise package. I'm very excited to show it to them."

"Phrasing," said Issei.

"Yes, I really should have thought that statement through, shouldn't I?"

Something occurred to Issei. "Hey, Prez?"

"What is it?" Rias asked.

"You have a Bishop, too, right? Where are they?"

Everyone in the room except for Issei and Zakaria shifted slightly like they were uncomfortable. "Unfortunately, my Bishop can't participate," Rias said after a few moments. "We'll talk about that in the future."

_There's something else I'm not going to touch with a barge pole until someone else brings it up,_ Zakaria thought.

"This Rating Game will be viewed by both the Gremory and Phenex households," Grayfia said, breaking the awkward atmosphere. "Lord Lucifer will also be watching. Please try to remember that."

That piqued everyone's interest, but Rias, in particular, looked surprised. "My brother will be watching?" she asked.

Zakaria quirked an eyebrow. Issei raised his hand and asked, "U-Umm, Prez, did you just call a Satan your brother? Did I hear that wrong?"

"No, President's brother is a Satan," Yuuto spoke up.

"Well, I suppose that explains why Lady Leviathan said she was talking to him," Zakaria commented.

"Wait, so your brother is _a Satan_!?" Issei asked in shock.

"Yes," Rias said bluntly.

Issei seemed to think about something for a second before his face once again twisted in confusion. "Are you confused because President's family name is different from any of the Satans'?" Yuuto guessed.

"Yeah," Issei admitted after a moment of hesitation.

"The original Satans all died during the Great War," Yuuto explained. "We couldn't exactly carry on without leaders, so their children picked up the position. Then the Underworld Civil War happened, which is a whole other issue we don't have time to talk about right now, and new demons were chosen to take up the mantles of the Four Great Satans. To tell you the truth, out of the factions of God, the fallen angels, and the demons, the demons have the least power. We're in a pretty tight spot at the moment, but we're kept safe because the current Satans are just as strong as the old Satans."

"So … President's brother was chosen to be a Satan?" Issei clarified.

Yuuto nodded. "Sirzechs Lucifer, otherwise known as the 'Crimson Satan.' He's President's older brother and the most powerful of the current Satans."

"So that's why Prez has to inherit her household …" Issei mumbled in realisation.

"The Satans aren't all as loony as Leviathan, are they?" Zakaria asked. "Because if they are, I'm struggling to see how much gets done. That woman came across like an adult-sized child. The fact that she has power is more terrifying, the more I think about it."

"All the Satans have their quirks," Grayfia spoke up. "But Lady Leviathan is particularly childish, yes." She paused. "It's about time. Everyone, please step inside the magic circle." They did so. "Please be aware that once you've transported, you cannot use the magic circle again until the game ends."

The magic circle beneath their feet changed, no longer showing the Gremory family crest, but neither was it showing that of the Phenex family. Zakaria suspected it was some particular magic circle used for the Rating Game.

The light consumed Rias' Familia…

* * *

… and when it faded, they were still in the clubroom.

Initially confused, Zakaria had just enough time to register that Grayfia was no longer in the room before her voice resounded all around them as though it were coming through a P.A. system. _"Greetings, everyone. I am Grayfia, a maid of the House of Gremory, and today I will be the arbiter of the Rating Game match between the House of Gremory and the House of Phenex. In the name of my master, Sirzechs Lucifer, I will be overseeing this match. By taking into account the opinions of both Lady Rias and Lord Riser, we created a perfect replica of Kuou Academy, the school Lady Rias attends in the human world, to act as the battlefield."_

_So we have a home-field advantage,_ Zakaria thought, pleased. That prick Riser gave us another handicap. _He must be confident in himself._ He looked around the room, allowing himself to be impressed by how accurate a recreation it was. They got every detail, right down to the occasional imperfection in the architecture. He walked over to the window and looked out. The school grounds looked the same, too. The only blemish was the sky, which was pure white.

_"The locations both teams were initially transported to will be their bases for the game,"_ Grayfia explained. _"Lady Rias' base is the Occult Research Club's clubroom, located in the old school building. Lord Riser's base is in the student council room located in the new building. For either side's Pawns to use Promotion, they must enter the enemy's base."_

_With any luck, I won't need to,_ Zakaria thought, absent-mindedly patting his duffel bag.

"Everyone, please put these transceivers in your ears," Rias said.

Akeno walked to everyone and handed them the earpieces. That is until she reached Zakaria. She didn't give him his; instead, she walked right up to him and grabbed his face in one hand, hooking the transceiver around his ear so that the speaker was inside, and then lingering for a while. " _There,_ " she whispered directly into his ear. Her breath sent pleasant shivers down his spine. Then she backed off as suddenly as she'd stepped up to him. Zakaria had to admit that she was starting to drive him slightly crazy.

Even a man as withdrawn as he had his limits and Akeno was rapidly pushing him towards them.

"We'll use these to communicate on the battlefield," Rias explained, having a little smirk at the interaction between Akeno and Zakaria. She kept hoping he would give in. In her opinion, he needed to loosen up and relax around them.

_"This game will continue until either one side defeats the other or dawn arrives in the human world,"_ Grayfia explained. _"Your time starts now."_

"First, we need to take down Riser's Pawns," Rias explained. "It would be problematic if they were allowed to Promote to Queens."

The atmosphere was strangely chilled out, Zakaria noted. Rias was sitting on the sofa, calmly strategising, while Akeno was making everyone tea. _Though I suppose Riser is likely strategising, too,_ he considered. _Even a man that overly confident has to acknowledge that there's_ always _at least a small chance of losing._

Issei didn't seem to consider that. "P-Prez," he said, "you seem pretty calm …"

"The game only just started," Rias brushed him off. "Rating Games haven't historically ended very quickly. True, there _have_ been times where they turned into all-out brawls between Familias and ended quickly, but those are rarities. Mostly, it's like an actual chess game. It's not going to be over very fast. There is only meaning to your actions if you use the battlefield to its fullest. Usually, the bases would be fortresses, castles, or towers, and the landscape would involve forests or rivers. Just because our battlefield is our school doesn't mean we can afford to strategise any less. Yuuto."

"Right," said Yuuto, spreading a map of the school out on the table.

The map was drawn inside a grid not dissimilar to a chessboard. Rias drew circles around the old and new school buildings in red pen. "There's a small forest near our base," she said. "It's safe to assume that it is also our territory. Most of the school grounds would fall into Riser's territory since they're around the new school building. He'll likely have an ambush set up just in case we try for a head-on assault. The field is out in the open and easy to see from the new school building, so crossing there is dangerous."

"Then we have to go through the sports ground to get to the new school building?" Issei asked.

Rias chuckled at the question. "Normally, yes, but our enemy will also know that. Riser will likely have servants positioned at the sports ground. He'll probably have a Knight or a Rook positioned in one of the clubrooms on the sports ground." She frowned. "No, actually, he'd need someone with mobility around there, so one Knight and three Pawns would be my assumption, a total of four servants. Then he'll have control of the whole area."

"President, what about the gym near the old school building?" Yuuto asked. "Shouldn't we occupy that location first? From there, we have a route to the new school building. The gym is a passage to both of the buildings so that we could restrict our enemy's movements."

Rias nodded. "I had the same thought. Capturing the gym should be our first move. Given the location, I think he'd put a Rook in there. Since it's an inside location, the destructive power would prove more of an advantage than mobility. Yuuto, Koneko, you two head out and set some traps in the forest. Take a spare map with you and mark off the locations where you set the traps. I'll make copies when you're back and hand them out to everyone."

"Yes," said Yuuto.

"Roger," said Koneko.

The two of them left immediately, taking a map and a toolbox of some sort with them.

"The rest of us will be on standby until they finish setting up the traps," said Rias. "Oh, Akeno."

"Yes?"

"After Yuuto and Koneko return, cast illusions and mist around the forest and the sky. It should only affect Riser's Familia."

"I understand, President."

"U-Um, Prez?" Issei spoke up. "What am I supposed to do?"

"You and Zakaria are my Pawns, so the goal is to get you two into Riser's base to use Promotion," Rias explained. "Now, Issei, come here."

Zakaria zoned them out as Issei went over and put his head in Rias' lap on her instructions. It seemed that, whatever she was telling Issei, it had little relevance, if any, to Zakaria. He settled on the other sofa to wait for Yuuto and Koneko to return. That was the plan, at least. He had a feeling that wasn't going to work out the second Akeno sat down right beside him, and I do mean _right_ beside him. Her arm brushed his as she sat down, and their arms remained touching even when she was seated.

"You know, my thighs would be rather comfortable," she said quietly.

"I'm sure," he said without making any moves. "Though I'm sure whatever they're doing somehow requires his head to be in her lap. We have no such need."

"You'd be surprised. Technically speaking, she only needs to touch his head to unlock some of the power she had to seal away to keep it from overwhelming him. The lap-pillow is entirely something she _wants_ to do with him."

"I bet that thought will please him."

"Yes, he'll enjoy the attention. Just as I'm sure _you'll_ enjoy _my_ attention if you'd let me. Here," she took him by the arm and before he could do or say anything in protest, she placed his hand on the soft, warm skin of her thigh, "see?"

He did see. Her smooth flesh felt wonderful beneath the rough skin of his hand. His hand lingered there for a second even after she released him, but he pulled away quickly when he realised. "Why do you like me?" he asked.

Akeno blinked twice and then chuckled. "Oh my, you aren't like other men, are you? Most men would just be jumping at the chances I've given you, no questions asked." She paused for a moment. "At first, I was just teasing. I like doing that, and you seemed like a fun one to try and get a reaction out of. It was when you started working at the school that it started to be more serious." Her face flushed. "The idea of having a carnal affair with a teacher gets my heart racing." She brought her hands up to her cheeks as her face somehow got even redder. "But what really made me like you was what you said on the second day of training, about how much you're allowed to hurt our opponents during this game." She raised her eyes to his, and he saw lust in them like he hadn't seen since he was a teenager. "I like a man who knows how to play rough."

"You know I'm not a teacher, right? I'm a counsellor."

" _Semantics_ ~" Akeno purred, now gripping his arm, which pushed between her breasts slightly. "It'd still be so naughty for you to get involved with a student. Just thinking about it makes me feel so _hot_."

"Akeno, while I don't mind the idea of you two becoming involved, I must ask that you refrain from desecrating the sofa right in front of Issei and me," Rias said, amused. Issei still had his head in her lap. Where before he might have looked jealous, Zakaria was surprised to see Issei grin and raise a thumb towards him in approval. Guess the lap pillow he was receiving dulled his jealousy, or now he was actually on board with the idea of Akeno going after Zakaria… Nah, for a guy who's self-claimed goal was to be "Harem King", there's no _way_ the second option was true… Right?

"Yes, President," Akeno said, immediately backing off and clearing her throat. "My apologies." She leaned back towards Zakaria's ear and whispered, " _We'll finish this later._ "

Zakaria settled back down and kept to himself until Yuuto and Koneko returned. The Rating Game mostly took up his thoughts and when he would be able to make use of the items he had in his duffel bag. A smaller part of his mind was occupied with what Akeno had said to him. It was during this period of thought that Zakaria realised that he genuinely returned her interest in him.

That was both an excellent thought and a terrifying one.

* * *

Zakaria exited the old school building, duffel bag slung over his shoulder, alongside Issei and Koneko, who he would be working with during this first phase of the plan. They immediately began making their way towards the gym. The gym had two entrances, one on the side facing the old school building, and one that met the primary school grounds. Going through the gym was their best chance at avoiding being caught by the bulk of Riser's forces. They reached the gym and tried the door. It was unlocked. Not naive enough to think they had beaten Riser here, Zakaria came to the logical conclusion that they were expected. As they entered, this was confirmed.

Four of Riser's servants stood before them. The girl in the Chinese garb, the two disturbingly young twins Riser had made out with (who were now armed with chainsaws), and the one who had knocked Issei down, Mira.

Three Pawns and a Rook, just as Rias had predicted.

"Boosted Gear, standby," Issei ordered his Sacred Gear.

" _Boost!_ " it boomed in reply.

"Koneko, take the Rook," Zakaria said, falling into a commanding position almost on instinct. He dropped his duffel bag to the floor. "Cannon Fodder, feel free to get some payback for what that Pawn did to you before. I'll take the twins."

"Right," his teammates replied simultaneously.

As Zakaria stared down the twins, he flipped a switch in his head. These were no longer children. They were no longer even _people_ , not in his mind. They were enemies that must be defeated. That was _all_ they were and all they _would be_ until the end of this Rating Game.

The sight of two middle school age-looking twins charging, wielding chainsaws, and cheerfully saying, "Disassembling time~" would have likely unnerved anyone else. But not to Zakaria Holland. They were dragging their chainsaws along the floor, destroying the wooden flooring of the gym and causing sparks to fly from the blades. "Split, split, split, split, split!"

As short as they were, the two girls were easy enough to jump over, even as they brought their chainsaws up for an upward slash. As soon as he was behind them, Zakaria forced himself to spin around, pushing himself with his telekinesis to add to the speed with which he turned, and delivered a kick to the back of one of their heads. The one he kicked went flying forwards, rolling as she landed. The chainsaw, which had fallen from her hand, took to the air and zoomed into Zakaria's hand.

Before the other twin even had the chance to turn around all the way, her sister's chainsaw was buried into her shoulder.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ "

Her screams echoed throughout the gym as blood gushed from her shoulder, soaking the white top she was wearing. Zakaria wasn't satisfied with just her shoulder, however. He kept pushing downwards and downwards until—

_"Riser Phenex's Pawn retires,"_ came Grayfia's voice.

—the girl vanished just before the chainsaw could cut its way past her ribs and begin decimating her lungs.

_So, they do get taken out of the game before fatal damage can occur,_ Zakaria thought, pleased, as he turned his attention back to the sister whose chainsaw he was currently holding. _This plan should go off without a hitch, then._ He walked towards the terrified girl without saying a word. There was nothing on his face – no distaste, no enjoyment, no anger, no worry. His expression was the very definition of neutral as he walked over to the girl, who was paralysed with fear, and shoved the blade of her own chainsaw directly into the soft flesh of her stomach.

_"Riser Phenex's Pawn retires."_

_Didn't even need to reach into my bag of tricks yet,_ he thought as he summoned his duffel bag back onto his shoulder and dropped the blood-covered chainsaw to the ground. He wasn't exactly free of blood, himself. His clothes had already been thoroughly splashed in it. _I'm starting to think Rias overhyped these guys._ He turned back towards the fights his two teammates were having.

While the carnage he had inflicted on the two Pawns had gone _far_ from unnoticed, the other combatants were all a bit preoccupied with their battles to react.

" _Boost!_ " shouted Issei's Sacred Gear.

Issei was mostly dodging Mira's attacks. Even when she did hit him, he managed to block her attacks. Frustration was written on her face as she struggled to land a good blow on the teenager she had no trouble with knocking down a peg only ten days ago. "Why can't I break through your guard!?" she growled in frustration.

" _Boost!_ "

Issei grinned. "Let's do it, Sacred Gear!"

" _Explosion!_ "

Issei wasted no time blocking any more. When Mira next swung at him, he brought his arm down in a karate chop, and her staff snapped in half with a loud _crack_. Then Issei brought the fist of his other hand across and knocked her aside like she was nothing. The grin he had been wearing since his last boost grew more perverted. "Take this! My new ultimate technique!" he declared. " _Dress Break_!" He snapped his fingers.

Mira's clothes _exploded_.

Her outer clothes and undergarments both were ripped to shreds by an unseen force the second Issei clicked his fingers, leaving her naked, breasts and everything on display. She looked understandably _mortified_ by this course of events as she held her arm up to cover her breasts and lowered her other hand to between her legs so they couldn't see her privates. "N-Nooooooooooooooooooo!" she cried.

Zakaria pinched his nose and clenched his eyes shut, feeling a migraine coming on. "If it were _anyone else_ , I would call that move strategically brilliant," he admitted. "Removing an opponent's clothes could be good for getting rid of armour and lowering their defences. But specifically, because it's _you_ that did this, I find myself ashamed to even be in the same _room_ as you right now."

" _You're_ the one who told me to fight dirty!" Issei argued.

"I didn't tell you to fight _rapey_."

"Pervert," Koneko said with disgust. Her opponent was down.

_"Issei, Koneko, Zakaria,"_ Rias' voice sounded through their transceivers. _"Do you read me?"_

"We read you," Zakaria answered. "I retired two of the Pawns. The last Pawn and the Rook are both incapacitated currently, so we're on track with the plan."

_"Good to hear. Akeno's preparations are complete. Proceed with the next phase of the plan."_

"Roger that."

The trio immediately began rushing towards the exit on the opposite side of the gym from where they had entered.

"Are you running away!?" one of Riser's servants shouted after them. "Isn't this location supposed to be important!?"

She was summarily ignored.

The exact moment Rias' servants got out of the gym, there was a flash of light from the sky followed by an immense—

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!_

—as the gym was utterly destroyed in an onslaught of lightning raining down from the clouds above it. Looking around, Zakaria caught sight of Akeno hovering in the distance, her wings flapping behind her. She waved at him playfully. He raised a hand in return.

_"Riser Phenex's Pawn and Rook retire."_

"We did it!" Issei exclaimed in celebration.

"Don't talk to me," Koneko told him with a glare.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm hardly gonna use it on my friends," said Issei.

"It's still disgusting."

_"The first phase of the plan was a success,"_ Rias' voice came to them.

She said more after that, but Zakaria wasn't listening. He was tensing up. During his training the last ten days, he had practised with expanding the range of his telekinesis as well as the number of objects he could interact with at once. To this end, he had tried simply touching things, nothing more than a small poke and feel around that none of the others ever noticed even when they were in the vicinity and being touched by his powers. He very quickly discovered that he could use it to effectively "map" his surroundings as he could feel everything his powers touched in detail. He was doing so now.

Someone was coming from high up.

Quick as a flash, Zakaria looked up and raised his hands to the sky, using them to create a physical feeling in his body of doing what he was using his powers for. This, he found, helped him to enhance their effect. The explosive ball of fire that had been fired down, directly at where Koneko happened to be standing, stopped in mid-air.

Zakaria _pushed_ with his mind and made a pushing motion with his hand.

The fire went flying back towards its source, which Zakaria still couldn't get a visual on as it was right behind the projectile, and—

_BANG!_

The explosion was massive. It indeed would have done a lot of damage had it been allowed to hit its target. Issei and Koneko both snapped their eyes in the direction of the explosion, eyes wide. The smoke cleared, revealing Riser's purple-haired Queen. Her clothes had been ripped to shreds by the blast and were hanging off her like rags, exposing her underwear and parts of her body. Issei seemed to appreciate that view. She was glaring down at Zakaria, who met her gaze with an impartial stare.

"I liked these clothes," she said, the threat clear.

"I don't care," Zakaria responded. Unseen by his target, his duffel bag began to unzip itself. "You just tried to hurt one of my teammates. I don't appreciate that."

Riser's Queen laughed at him. "You do realise what kind of game this is, right? If you get this angry about someone _trying_ to take out someone on your side, I don't think you're cut out for this."

"I beg to differ."

"And what would you know?"

"That this is _really_ going to hurt …"

"On that, we can agree—"

"… you."

A bottle flew from Zakaria's duffel bag and upwards. He was focused on Riser's Queen, pouring his every thought into locking the bottle onto her. She raised her arms out of reflex to block it. The bottle shattered against her arms.

Steam began to rise from her skin in a gigantic cloud.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!_ " she screamed at the top of her lungs as her arms and everywhere else the liquid inside the bottle hit _burned_.

"Bottled holy water," Zakaria said idly. "That's got to be one of the oddest shopping lists I've ever written."

_BOOM!_

The sky flashed, and lightning rained down on the screaming woman. Water and electricity, not being the most ideal of combinations if you were handling them, proved to be the undoing of Riser's Queen. Akeno's lightning was conducted through the holy water that had been splashed all over Riser's Queen, and the added stress to wounds that were already doing a _ton_ more damage than the average burn pretty much fried through the Queen's skin. Her screaming was cut off rather abruptly by her disappearing from the sky.

_"Riser Phenex's Queen retires."_

"… Holy _shit_ ," Issei breathed out in shock.

"Brutal," Koneko agreed.

Akeno floated down to join them, her face red with barely contained arousal. "I knew whatever you had in that bag of yours wouldn't be disappointing," she complimented Zakaria.

"You haven't seen anything yet," he replied.

"Between this and the way you cut up those two girls with their chainsaws … you _seriously_ fucking scare me, dude," Issei said shakily.

"Oh my," Akeno sighed, bringing a hand to her chest the second she heard about the chainsaws.

"Losing his Queen is gonna piss him off," said Koneko. "We should get to Yuuto for the next phase."

Everyone concurred.

* * *

The quartet got a pleasant little surprise on their way to the sports court.

_"Riser Phenex's three Pawns retire."_

_Eight servants down,_ Zakaria thought, counting up the ones that had been taken out up to now. _That's just over half his team gone before we've even lost a single person. Plus, one of them was his Queen._ He felt a sense of smugness run through him as he pictured what Riser must have looked like when the announcement of his Queen's retirement went through. It was slightly paradoxical, the fact that he felt _nothing_ while retiring his opponents, yet picturing Riser's _reaction_ to those retirements highly amused him.

He almost envied Akeno in a way. She had the time of her life, causing other people pain. He, on the other hand, had long since stopped feeling _anything_ towards doing so.

"Wha—" Issei said in surprise from behind them all, causing the others to turn around, ready to fight.

It was just Yuuto. He was observing the sports court from behind the storage room they were walking past. "I hear you guys took out the Queen," he said. "Nice work."

"Was it you who took out those Pawns just now?" Issei asked.

Yuuto nodded. "Yeah. The clubroom at the sports court is an important location, so naturally, there's quite a force there. I managed to lure out three of his Pawns and take them down. But whoever is in charge of this part is pretty level-headed; they haven't responded to my attempts to provoke them out. It seems like the Pawns were only sent to test me out. Sacrificing servants like that is something Riser can only afford to do because he has a full Familia." He was smiling, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The ones in charge here are a Knight, a Rook, and a Bishop. That's three enemies in total."

"Well, it's a good thing there's five of us, then," said Zakaria.

"We'll keep the numbers advantage so long as we do this quickly," said Akeno. "Since the gym and the Queen got taken out, they'll probably be moving the bulk of their forces here soon."

"You nervous?" Yuuto asked, noting Issei's shaky demeanour.

"O-Of course!" Issei had no problem admitting. "I have no battle experience! Yet now here I am in an actual battle. I'm a grunt compared to you guys."

Yuuto held his hand out. "Look," he said. If one looked closely, they could see his hand shaking. "You say we have a lot more battle experience, and that's probably true, even for Zakaria, who's only been one of us for a day or so longer than you. But this is still all our first times participating in a Rating Game. A serious battle between demons. Even if this match is a special case between families, that doesn't change the fact that it's a real fight. We can't show them even a slight opening in our guard. This is a match where we have to give it all we've got as President's servants. I feel delighted but also scared. I don't want to forget how it felt for my hands to shake here. I want to feel everything and turn it into an experience. Let's all become stronger together."

"I'm a little nervous, too," Zakaria admitted. Issei shot him a look of sheer disbelief. "It's true. While we were training, I found out that even though I was well-equipped to take on enemies from my universe, I'm not that strong by this world's standards. I've only done so well in this game so far through sheer, unpredictable brutality. It's been easy only because they haven't seen it coming. The second I get into a fight with someone who can see how dirty and brutal I'll fight, I'm going to have my work cut out for me. You're not alone here, Cannon Fodder."

Issei smiled. "Okay, yeah. Let's do this!"

Zakaria tilted his head, feeling something. "Someone's coming," he said. "Out on the court."

Sure enough, Riser's medieval-looking Knight walked out onto the nearby baseball court only a few seconds after he finished speaking. "I am the Knight of Riser Phenex, Karlamine!" she announced. Her voice was proud. "I've grown bored of these games! Knight of Rias Gremory, I challenge you to a duel!"

Yuuto chuckled. "Since she introduced herself, I can't keep hiding," he said. "Both as a Knight and as a swordsman."

"I wish you could," Zakaria said in annoyance.

Yuuto walked out from behind their cover and straight out into the open where Karlamine could see him. The others, realising it would be pointless to keep on hiding when the Knight now had a good idea of where they were, walked out after him but kept their distance. This was a direct challenge he was answering, after all, and even Zakaria knew to respect other people's decisions even if they aren't ones he would make himself.

"I am the Knight of Rias Gremory, Yuuto Kiba," he introduced himself.

"I'm the Pawn, Issei Hyoudou!" Issei introduced himself, as well.

The others saw no reason not to follow suit.

"I'm the Rook, Koneko Toujou."

"I'm Rias' Queen, Akeno Himejima. Nice to meet you."

"Pawn. Zakaria Holland."

"I'm happy there are warriors like you in Rias Gremory's group," said Karlamine. "Coming to face me directly from the front. That's something sane people rarely do."

"My thoughts exactly," Zakaria commented.

"But I do love idiots like you. Now then, let's begin." Karlamine drew her sword from its sheath.

Yuuto also readied his blade. "A match between Knights. I have been waiting for this. I would like to cross blades with someone like this."

"Well said, Rias Gremory's Knight!"

Their swords clashed, creating sparks against each other. Both combatants were barely visible to their viewers since they were both utilising their Knight speed in their duel. Occasionally, one would appear, likely when they were keeping still between blows, but they disappeared just as quickly. To them, the whole world must have been moving in slow motion.

Zakaria, quickly growing bored of just watching, reached into his duffel bag and started to prepare something for the people he could feel approaching.

"You guys seem bored," said Riser's Rook, the one with the half-mask over her face.

"Geez, this seems like more of a mud fight," said the drill-haired Bishop. "All they think about is swords, swords, swords. Karlamine kept making faces when the Pawns were sacrificed, like she disapproved of Riser's plan or something, even though he's her master. And just when I thought I found a cute boy, he turned out to be a sword nut, too. What a waste." She looked over the servants of Rias who weren't fighting. Her gaze lingered and narrowed on Koneko, who glared back, before she eventually turned her attention to Issei. "So you're the Pawn Rias Gremory adores so much? Dear Satan, she has bad taste."

Issei seemed to take this personally. "Boosted Gear!" he said, summoning his Sacred Gear.

The Bishop, who Zakaria was becoming more and more sure was related to Riser, sighed at him. "I won't be fighting you," she said like fighting him was so far beneath her it would give the Parisian catacombs a run for their money. "Isabella, why don't you be his opponent?"

The masked woman nodded obediently. "I was planning to, anyway," she said. "Let's fight since we're both bored."

"Isn't she going to fight?" Issei asked.

The Rook put a hand on her head. "Don't worry about her. She'll pretty much just be watching."

"W-Why the hell is that!?"

"This is Ravel Phenex, Riser's little sister."

_So, I was right about them being related._ A plan began to form in Zakaria's mind.

"Riser says she's in his Familia more for the sake of appearances," Isabella explained. "He isn't into his sister or anything, but having the little sister type in the harem is important for it to look right."

_If only the whole harem were purely aesthetic,_ Zakaria thought, shivering as he remembered Riser making out with those two young girls. _The guy's still a creep even if he draws the line at incest._

"Now then, here I come, Rias Gremory's Pawn!" Isabella declared. She shot forward, far faster than any Rook Zakaria had seen so far (though she was only the third), and threw a punch at Issei's cheek. Issei dodged to the side, just barely avoiding the punch to the face. "I see. So you dodged it, huh? Sorry. I was looking down on you a bit. I'll bump this up by a couple of gears." She came at him again, sending punches at him with both arms from angles it wouldn't have occurred to anyone else to punch. Issei took this in stride and kept dodging and dodging despite an evident struggle it was for him.

This little routine came to an end when Isabella, without warning, delivered a kick rather than a punch right in Issei's stomach. He lost his balance, and suddenly, all of Isabella's punches to his face were landing.

Zakaria prepared to act if he needed to. Getting involved in others' fights may have been bad form, but if Issei looked like he was having too much trouble, he would do it, anyway.

" _Boost!_ " shouted the Boosted Gear.

Issei raised his arms and crossed them in front of him, trying to block rather than dodging. He was still being knocked back with every blow. Issei took an intentional step back, presumably to get out of range of Isabella's attacks, and her punches stopped. She was still moving, though. Issei kept his guard up.

Isabella smiled at this. "I was taking you lightly. To tell you the truth, I thought I had you when my kick landed. It looks like Rias Gremory has been training you well. Your stamina is magnificent. In a serious battle, the most important thing is your stamina. Even a complete idiot can fight, but you need the stamina to keep going. Battles eat up your stamina and concentration. Just dodging an attack requires quite a lot of effort. So being able to do that until now shows me how much you've been training your body."

It wasn't clear what Issei was thinking, but he grinned at her words and gained a new fire in his eyes.

"… It looks like I said something unnecessary," said Isabella. "I felt your pressure increase."

"Rook Isabella," Issei spoke up with determination. "I am the weakest and least experienced member of Rias Gremory's Familia, but I will still defeat you!"

There was a buzz in the air, drawing everyone's attention towards the battle between the two Knights. They were finally standing still for long enough that they were visible to the others. Yuuto's sword, which appeared to be composed entirely of darkness, looked like it had been broken.

"Unfortunately for you, your Sacred Gear won't work on me," said Karlamine. Her sword was up in flames.

Yuuto smirked. "Then I'll also say this. Unfortunately for _you_ , this is not the extent of my Sacred Gear's capabilities."

"What? Nonsense. It is unsightly for a swordsman to—"

" _Freeze_."

As soon as that word left Yuuto's lips, something began to happen to his broken sword. Something was visibly gathering around it. Zakaria shivered as the whole area got colder. Ice grew from the hilt of Yuuto's sword, spreading and spreading upwards until it was visibly the shape of a sword's blade. "In front of this sword, _Flame Delete_ , all types of fire will disappear."

"A-Absurd!" said Karlamine. "Are you telling me you have two Sacred Gears!?" She swung her sword, which clashed with Yuuto's. The moment it did, the flames of her blade began to _freeze_. It made a cracking sound, like a crack spreading in glass, and then unceremoniously shattered. Karlamine, to her credit, didn't let this deter her. She threw the useless sword hilt to the side and drew a shorter sword from a scabbard at her hip. "We are members of the almighty House of Phenex, those who rule over fire and wind! Taste it! The whirlwind of fire!"

The cold area heated up incredibly quickly as a cyclone of fire appeared and began roaring around the two Knights.

"That Karlamine," Isabella huffed. "Has she forgotten that her allies are here, as well!?"

Despite the roaring flames, it was still possible to see what was happening. Yuuto's _Flame Delete_ was melting. This did not seem to bother him. He held the hilt of his melted sword out in front of him …

… and the fiery wind was pulled into the hilt. After a few seconds, the whole court was silent.

" _Repression Calm_ ," Yuuto said by way of explanation. "It's been a while since I last showed more than two demonic swords for one battle." The sword he was now holding was like nothing Zakaria had ever seen before. There was a whirlwind of some sort sitting at the centre of the blade.

"… Multiple Sacred Gears." Once again, Karlamine could only seem to draw that conclusion. "Can you take the weapons of other Sacred Gear users and make them your own?"

"I don't have multiple Sacred Gears. I haven't taken anything from anyone. I created them."

"Created … them?"

"Yes. Sword Birth. I can create any type of demonic sword. That is the name of my Sacred Gear and its true ability."

" _Boost!_ " came the voice of the Boosted Gear once again.

Issei grinned. "Boosted Gear! Explode!"

" _Explosion!_ "

Issei stretched his arms out in front of him and pressed them together as a massive amount of power gathered at his hands. " _Dragon Shot_!" he shouted. A gigantic beam of demonic energy shot from his hands and directly at Isabella. It was quickly five times the size of the one he had fired at the mountain during training. The power was so strong that it was pushing Issei backwards as he was firing it, marking the dirt as his feet dragged across it.

"Isabella!" Karlamine yelled. "Don't take it! Dodge!"

Isabella, who had been in the position to try and withstand and block the attack, thought better of it upon that warning and dived out of the way. Issei's attack missed, but they still all got a good look at the devastation it would have caused.

_BAAAAAAAAANG!_

The nearby tennis court, along with literally all of the ground surrounding it, was just _gone_. A crater worthy of a crashed meteorite was left in its place, still smoking from the attack.

"Isabella!" Karlamine called once again. "Defeat that Pawn! That Sacred Gear has the potential to change the outcome of the entire battle!"

"Affirmative!" Isabella shouted back. She fixed her intense gaze onto Issei. "Boosted Gear will become a massive threat if we allow him to use Promotion! I will take him down before that happens!"

Isabella came at Issei again, punching and kicking. Issei blocked them all. Zakaria was about ready to step in after Issei used so much energy on that last attack but paused when he saw Issei pull his left arm back to deliver a punch of his own. Isabella crossed her arms to guard, but somehow, Issei's punch broke through her guard and sent her flying. " _Dress Break_!" Issei shouted.

Zakaria facepalmed before he could even see the results.

Isabella's body was revealed to everyone present. Akeno let out a half-amused half-disappointed "Oh my" at the sight. Isabella, for her part, reached up to check her mask before anything else, but upon realising it was still there, she lowered her arms to cover all of her private parts. Issei capitalised on her distraction and formed a small block of demonic power in his hand. He fired it in her direction, and this time, she didn't have her wits about her enough to dodge it. The block of power, enhanced by the Boosted Gear, consumed Isabella's entire body in seconds. The wind whipped at everyone in the vicinity as the shock-wave of the impact blew dust and dirt everywhere.

" _Reset_!" said the Boosted Gear.

_"Riser Phenex's Rook retires."_

Issei's power reset to the state it began in, but he still won his fight. "Hell yeaaaaaah!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Then he had to refill those lungs, both from that shout and the effort he just put into taking out Isabella and spent the next few minutes panting.

Karlamine smirked bitterly. "Apparently, both Isabella and I have been taking that Pawn and his Sacred Gear too lightly," she said. "Riser was right about you. You're no ordinary Pawn. But that attack was truly _awful_. B-Blowing away a woman's clothes …"

"I apologise for my comrade's lechery," Yuuto said to her, embarrassed.

Karlamine drew her focus back onto Yuuto himself. "But a demonic sword wielder … what fortune. I seem to have good luck when it comes to meeting swordsmen who wield special swords."

That piqued Yuuto's interest. "Hmm, so you know someone besides me who uses demonic swords?"

"No, it wasn't a demonic sword. It was a holy sword."

"—!"

The effect that had was similar to Yuuto's _Flame Delete; only_ there was no actual ice. Yuuto's entire demeanour became colder than cold, so cold that everyone in the area could feel it. The murderous intent he was projecting was _palpable_. "Tell me who they are," Yuuto said, his tone as cold as the atmosphere he was creating.

Zakaria made a mental note of all of this.

"Hmm, seems like you and this other swordsman have some sort of connection," said Karlamine. "But since we are swordsmen, talking would be rude. I will answer you with my sword!"

"… Is that right?" Yuuto asked with no change in his tone. "If your mouth can still move, then cutting you to within an inch of your life won't be an issue."

_It looks like I'm not the only damaged one around here,_ Zakaria thought. He probably could have told that before if he had paid attention. Still, between adjusting to his situation, getting a familiar, and training, he hadn't had a chance, nor the desire, to be observant. _I need to start paying attention to these kids more. Who knows what kind of skeletons they have in the closet?_

"So it's here."

"Huh? Where's Isabella?"

"Don't tell me she was defeated."

The remainder of Riser's servants had arrived. A Knight, a Bishop, and two Pawns.

"Hey, servants of Rias Gremory!" one of them said, getting the attention of everyone besides Yuuto. "Riser says he's going to fight your master one-on-one. See there." She pointed towards the school roof. Above the new school building hovered two figures, one with wings of fire and one with standard demon wings. It was Riser and Rias, just as the girl had said.

_Perfect,_ Zakaria thought. Facing off against Riser was something he was hoping for from the start. _Now, to draw his attention over here …_ "Issei, Koneko, Akeno," he said, drawing their focus to him. "Keep these four off me. I have a plan."

There were questions in their eyes, but they didn't ask them. They simply moved to fight the four new arrivals.

Zakaria unzipped his duffel bag.

"What do you think you're gonna do?" Riser's sister Ravel asked tauntingly. "Do you _really_ think you'll be able to do anything to change the outcome of this battle?"

"Yep," said Zakaria, pulling a bottle out of his bag. It was a bottle of vodka with a rag stuffed into the neck – a Molotov cocktail. He snapped his fingers and a small flame, about the size you'd get from a lighter or a match, appeared at his fingertip.

"What are you doing …?"

He lit the rag.

"What good is that going to d—"

" _HEY, RISER FRIED CHICKEN!_ " Zakaria shouted as loudly as his vocal cords would allow. Riser turned his head in his direction. " _CHECK THIS SHIT OUT!_ "

He hurled the Molotov cocktail right at Ravel, propelling it forward with his telekinesis so that it was going far faster than she would be able to dodge. His nose gushed blood.

Now, a Molotov cocktail would not usually do anything of note to a member of the Phenex family. It was only fire, after all. But not this one. Zakaria had drunk a quarter of the vodka the second he had gotten back home from training. The bottle, however, still looked full. How was that? Simply put, he refilled that last quarter of the bottle with _holy water_. So, when the rag was caught on fire, it was connected to a bottle full of very flammable liquid that also happened to contain sacred properties. The result?

Holy fire.

The bottle broke against Ravel's head. She had all of about a second to just _scream_ before vanishing from the game.

_"Riser Phenex's Bishop retires."_

For the first time since the game began, the entire pocket dimension was totally, 100% _silent_.

Riser's mouth hung open, and his eyes fixed on where his sister was standing only moments before. Then he turned his gaze to Zakaria, who could feel Riser's eyes boring into his skull with such intense heat that he swore his eyes were on the verge of melting. Now completely ignoring Rias, Riser lowered himself down, only coming to a stop when he was hovering close enough to Zakaria to speak clearly.

" _Did you … just Molotov … my_ sister _… with HOLY FIRE!?_ " he asked in a tone as venomous as any snake.

"Yep," said Zakaria. "What are you going to do about it?"

Everybody, both the participants of the game and those viewing it, could only conclude that Zakaria had a death wish.

They weren't _wrong_ , but that wasn't the point.

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!_ "

The violent screams of Riser Phenex felt like they could shake the whole pocket dimension as his rage just _broke_. He exploded in flames so intense that even his servants had to move out of the vicinity.

Yet Zakaria stood firm, waiting.

He wasn't waiting for long.

Riser swooped down at him like a bird of prey, and that's when Zakaria brought out the heaviest of the objects in his duffel bag:

A fire extinguisher.

He was not timely enough to stop Riser from crashing into him, and with several _cracks_ , some Zakaria's ribs were shattered. He gritted his teeth as he flew through the air and crashed to the ground. Time was too precious to focus on the pain. He stood up and looked around, still gripping the fire extinguisher. When he caught sight of Riser, swooping once again with a clear intent to start _butchering_ Zakaria for what he just did, Zakaria pointed the fire extinguisher at him.

He pointed it at Riser and just about managed to start spraying before he reached him. It wasn't foam coming out of the fire extinguisher, but yet more holy water. He didn't know where Ignisia had gotten all of this, but he was thankful she had managed it. Riser's fire went out, and steam surrounded him in a thick fog as Zakaria sprayed … and sprayed … and sprayed …

… and kept spraying until the fire extinguisher ran empty.

Zakaria walked right up to the floored, groaning, pained Riser and, without a hint of mercy or remorse, brought the fire extinguisher down on his head. Again and again, he whacked Riser on the head with the heavy metal canister with no signs of letting up any time soon. He was vaguely aware of Riser's servants trying to reach him but being blocked by the others, but he paid that no mind. When it became clear that blunt-force trauma wasn't going to cut it, he reached out with his telekinesis, losing more blood in the process, and summoned the last of the objects in the duffel bag.

Zakaria threw the fire extinguisher to the ground and reached out, catching the rosary with his bare hand. It burned like the light of the fallen angels' spears.

Zakaria reached down and grabbed Riser by his now blood-matted hair. He held his head up and immediately shoved the rosary into Riser's mouth. Then he laid into his face: one punch, two punches, three punches. Zakaria rolled Riser over, straddled his chest, and threw punch after punch into the Phenex's face, which no longer held the bad boy good looks he was known for. Teeth were missing and, thanks to the cross he had been forced to swallow during this assault, were not growing back. A small part of Zakaria's mind took note of the scar surrounding Riser's neck, which was _exactly_ where he had cut his head off the other day, but the vast majority of his mind was focused on just one thing: caving Riser Phenex's face in.

He continued to do so until one of his punches hit dirt instead.

_"Riser Phenex has retired. Rias Gremory wins."_

* * *

"What the hell was _that_?" Rias asked.

"Winning," said Zakaria.

They were in a separate infirmary from the on where Riser's Familia went. Rias' Familia was mostly unchanged, bar a few scrapes and bruises from their fights. Zakaria's injury was by far the worse of the bunch, having had a number of his ribs broken during that last confrontation with Riser, but even that was an easy fix. They had been told, however, that what Zakaria had done was far from an easy fix. The twins were the only ones with superficial injuries, having merely been cut up. The Queen, Riser's sister, and Riser himself were both being given strict medical attention because of the holy properties of the attacks they had been hit with. Zakaria didn't particularly care about any of this.

"I know _that_ ," Rias huffed. "But dammit, Zakaria, _I_ was about to fight him!"

"… Are you _really_ about to let your pride sour that win for you?" he asked. "Because I don't care about pride, yours or mine. I care about _winning_. And guess what? I won. The desired outcome was achieved. I don't see how anything else matters."

" _I_ certainly had a good time watching what you did," Akeno spoke up.

"Akeno, please don't side with Zakaria when I'm scolding him," said Rias. "Where did you even _get_ all that stuff, Zakaria?"

"I sent Ignisia shopping while we were training in the mountains," he explained. "I figured, the danger to myself was more than worth the benefits of how easy the fight would be if it all worked."

"You should have at least told us about it. It was just as dangerous to us, you know."

"You're … not wrong," he conceded. "Sorry."

Rias then gave Zakaria the most significant shock he had gotten in a while when she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. " _Thank you,_ " she whispered.

Zakaria awkwardly patted her on the back. "I wouldn't wish an arranged marriage to that dick on anybody," he said, trying to brush off her gratitude. "And I guess I kind of owe you my life for making me a demon when I would've died otherwise, so I should be the one thanking you." Those words rang hollow, given his apathy towards the concept of death, but he tried to make them convincing.

Rias pulled away from him. "Sure," she said in a tone that made it clear she didn't believe his reasoning. She smiled at him. "Really, though, thank you."

"… You're welcome."

Rias gave him one last smile, then walked over to Issei, who had looked a tad enraged when she hugged Zakaria, and wrapped her arms around his and laid her head on his shoulder. Akeno then took her place at Zakaria's side, wrapping her arms around his much like Rias was doing to Issei. "So, how are the ribs?" she asked.

"Good," he said. "They're all fixed up, and I don't feel any pain anymore."

"That's good." She leaned up and whispered in his ear. " _How about we go somewhere private and see if your stamina has recovered? Seeing you brutalise Riser like that got me all hot and bothered._ "

"My, my, are we interrupting something?" came a man's voice from the doorway. It was a handsome man who appeared to be in his early twenties. He had shoulder-length, crimson red hair and blue-green eyes. He very much looked like a male version of Rias. He was wearing fancy-looking robes with armour at the front, broad shoulders, and a flowing cape. "I'd have thought you would at least wait until you were back home to start doing things like this."

"Sirzechs!" Rias exclaimed upon seeing him.

"Hello to you, little sister," the man, Sirzechs Lucifer, replied with a warm smile. "I came to see how you were all fairing after winning your first Rating Game."

"As well as to meet this generation's Red Dragon Emperor and the man from another world," said Grayfia, who stepped in behind him.

Sirzechs looked awkward. "Yes, that as well," he admitted.

"M-M-My name is Issei Hyoudou!" Issei introduced himself excitedly, bowing his head deeply. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lord Lucifer!"

"Zakaria Holland," Zakaria returned bluntly. "Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," said Sirzechs. He seemed friendly enough, and less energetic than Serafall, which could only be a good thing. "I'm afraid this will be a short visit. I'll have to speak to Father and Lord Phenex soon. But I hope to have a longer meeting with both of you in the future." He turned his gaze to Zakaria exclusively. "I must admit, your method of combat in the Rating Game was … rather brutal. No offence intended towards you, of course. I daresay you shocked the viewers on all sides with your display."

Zakaria shrugged. "I intended to win, so I won," he said. "I can't say it any better than that."

"I understand. Though don't be surprised if restrictions are placed on that sort of thing in the future. Bloodsport isn't necessarily _un_ popular in the underworld, but Rating Games are usually watched to see a fight, not a slaughter. Still, I must congratulate you. I've not yet seen a demon who was willing to bring holy items into a Rating Game." He turned towards Issei. "Your performance was quite admirable, as well. You have quite a good grasp on your powers considering how long you've had access to—"

"Lord Lucifer!" A servant came crashing through the doors, huffing and puffing. "M'lord, we have a problem!"

"What is it?" Sirzechs asked seriously.

"It's Riser Phenex, sir! He's dead!"


	8. Chapter 8

_It's Riser Phenex, sir! He's dead!_

Those words sucked all the good cheer from the room like a vacuum. None of them liked Riser, not in the slightest, but a member of one of the surviving families of the 72 Pillars dying due to a Rating Game was not the kind of new that left you in a good state of being. For Issei and Zakaria, who hadn't been demons that long, it was different. Issei was shocked because he didn't have much experience with death and was very new to all of this, so the news that one of his friends had killed somebody hit him hard. Zakaria, on the other hand, could count death as his oldest companion. Everyone he had ever known back home had died, and that was _before_ the apocalypse ravaged his home universe. Death was not even remotely new to him. He didn't care for Riser, either.

The thing that brought Zakaria's spirits down was the knowledge that this would cause others pain. Riser's parents and brothers, who he had never met. Riser's sister, who he had only recently set alight with holy flames. Riser's Familia, all of whom clearly held at least _some_ affection for the man, and a few of whom Zakaria had just horrifically mangled in the interest of winning the Rating Game. That was to say nothing of how the denizens of Hell would take this. Riser had said himself that pure-blooded demons were becoming rarer and rarer, and now, Zakaria had taken another one from them.

This would create ripples. Whether what Rias said about legal responsibility for deaths during Rating Games was true or not, this _would_ somehow come back to bite Zakaria in the ass. He didn't give a damn about Riser Phenex, but the knowledge that Riser's death would cause others a kind of pain Zakaria himself could empathise with was already eating at him.

The guilt was only the beginning. But then, shame, like death, was an old friend.

Sirzechs had been speaking with the servant who delivered the news for several minutes outside the room. Grayfia was still inside, apparently with instructions to calm things down if she had to, but there was no need. The feel of the room was somber. Akeno hugging Zakaria to her now had a less lustful feel about it and appeared to be an attempt at comfort. If that was the case, his emotional walls were slipping. But he was grateful for her company.

Sirzechs stepped back into the room. "I need to have a meeting with Father and Lord Phenex right away," he informed them. He made eye contact with Zakaria. "You won't face any legal backlash since the laws regarding Rating Games make it clear that deaths are the fault of the system, not the participants. However, I should still warn you that the law does not stop the Phenex family from seeking personal vengeance; it merely means they must be more careful about doing so. I'll smooth things over between the families to the best of my ability, but I want you to be prepared for anything."

"I understand," said Zakaria.

"You won't have to stand alone, no matter how this turns out," Rias spoke up. "We'll all be here to help you through whatever comes of this."

"Damn right, we will be," Issei concurred.

"I couldn't call myself much of a Knight if I left my comrades high and dry," said Yuuto.

"Bring them on," agreed Koneko.

Akeno chuckled. "I won't let anything bad happen to you," she said in a teasing tone of voice. "Not when we haven't even had any naughty fun in your office yet."

"Of course, that's what you'd focus on," Zakaria said, amused.

Sirzechs smiled at them. "It's nice to see my little sister's Familia have such a sense of camaraderie," he said. "But I'm afraid Grayfia and I must leave you for the time being to try and sort out this mess. We shall be back when we have news for you."

Farewells were exchanged, and Sirzechs and Grayfia left.

" _Snrk_ ," Rias uncharacteristically tried to suppress a laugh.

"What is it, Prez?" Issei asked.

"I-I shouldn't laugh," Rias said. "I really shouldn't. This situation is dire. But I just can't help thinking about the sheer irony of it. My parents set up this engagement to unite the Gremory and Phenex families, but it looks like it may end up causing a feud between our clans instead."

"But would they feud with the family of a Satan?"

"Lord Lucifer wouldn't be a factor," Yuuto explained. "The old Satans giving their own families special treatment was one of many factors that led into the Underworld Civil War. As part of his duties, the Satans have to be completely impartial, _especially_ when it involves their own families. To do otherwise would be considered an abuse of power."

Zakaria almost envied Sirzechs. A job that required neutrality sounded like a dream come true at this point.

The conversation was interrupted by the opening of the door. In stepped Sona Sitri and another girl. Much like Sona, she was a bespectacled young woman with black hair, though this new girl's was longer, extending way down to her knees, and had split bangs. Her eyes were hetero-chromic: her left eye was violet, and her right eye was brown. She wore the same uniform as the other girls attending Kuou Academy.

"Sona," Rias greeted with a warm smile. "I take it you were watching the match?"

"Of course, I was," said Sona. "A chance to study your battle tactics for our inevitable future Rating Game wasn't a chance I was willing to miss. Also, you're my friend, and I had to support you."

Rias chuckled. "Like watching us fight would make any difference to my future victories. But I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you."

"U-Um, Prez?" Issei spoke up. "What's the student council president doing here?"

"She's also a demon, Issei."

"Say what!?"

"Not that difficult a concept to grasp, Cannon Fodder," Zakaria sighed.

"Hello again, Mr Holland," Sona said to him. "I must say, your tactics were _brutally_ efficient during the match. Brutality is expected in any Rating Game involving a member of the Phenex family, of course, since trying to power through their Immortality is the only feasible way of beating them for most demons. However, using those same tactics against his Familia seemed somewhat gratuitous."

"I have the experience, but not training," Zakaria explained, shrugging. "Going as brutal as I could as fast as I could was the only way I wasn't going to get my ass kicked."

"Adopting a strategy based on your knowledge of your weaknesses is admirable," said Sona. "You're also, to my knowledge, the only demon who's ever had the nerve to bring holy items into the Rating Game. Considering that it hurts us all equally, I don't believe the thought ever occurred to anyone before." Her tone sounded genuinely impressed, as much as she would let it, anyway. "Oh. Forgive me for not introducing her sooner. This is my Queen, Tsubaki Shinra."

"Pleased to meet you," the girl with Sona said, bowing her head politely.

"Do you not know?" Koneko asked abruptly.

"Do I not know what?" Sona asked.

"… It appears news hasn't gotten out yet," Rias said, troubled. "Sona, from what we've been told, Riser died after he was retired from the Rating Game."

Beyond a _very slight_ widening of the eyes, Sona displayed no outward reaction. "I see … This is troubling news." She refocused on Zakaria. "New and effective your tactics may have been, the Phenex family are unlikely to see it that way. Do you think certain victory was worth the trouble you may have brought down upon yourself?"

"Yes," he responded without hesitation. "It's not like I went in _intending_ to kill him. From what President told me, he should have been transported out of there before anything fatal happened. I went in with the understanding that nothing I did would be permanent. It sucks that he died, but I don't regret the actions I took. I only regret the results post-Rating Game."

The _smallest_ of smiles appeared on Sona's face. "Well said. Not accounting for the damage holy objects can do to a demon was an oversight on the part of the system. For what it's worth, I don't believe you can be blamed for what happened."

"I suppose I have nothing to worry about, then," he replied dryly.

* * *

"I _demand_ that Pawn's head on a pike!"

"The law states that my daughter's servant is blameless! You have no right to demand such things!"

"My son is _dead_ , Lord Gremory!"

"My Lords," Sirzechs spoke up. His voice was understanding yet firm, with a hint of a "calm down, or _I'll_ calm you down" threat behind it. "Remain civil with one another, please. I am here as an adjudicator between you, so I do not wish to intervene directly, but know that I _will_ if the two of you cannot speak like civilised demons."

"… My apologies, Lord Lucifer," said Lord Phenex, forcing down his emotions. He had the trademark blond hair of his family, spiked up at the back, and red eyes that burned with his family's fire. He was dressed in formal robes, all reds, oranges, and yellows.

"Yes, I, too, am sorry," said Lord Zeoticus Gremory, Sirzechs' father, though you wouldn't have entirely known it at this moment. Working in an official capacity meant that to Sirzechs, he was merely "Lord Gremory" at this moment, and to Zeoticus, his son was "Lord Lucifer." It had been odd when Sirzechs first ascended to become a Satan, but they had gotten used to this routine in the years since. Zeoticus Gremory was a middle-aged (which by demon standards would put him at about 4,500 or more years old), handsome-looking man with long, crimson hair he kept tied in a loose ponytail with a black headband. He had bright, blue eyes and a short, red beard. He was wearing a black and white suit with golden highlights he was quite fond of.

"Good." Sirzechs nodded. Grayfia was standing dutifully at his side, silently. "Now, while I appreciate your position, Lord Phenex, and offer my deepest sympathies, the law states that Zakaria Holland holds no legal responsibility for the death of your son. Any attacks committed against him or others in Rias Gremory's Familia would be unlawful and punished as such."

"I am sorry about your son," Zeoticus said, his voice flowing with genuine sympathy. "Truly, I am. But please, do not let this unfortunate incident destroy the friendship between our households, not when this whole endeavour was meant to unite us."

Any shred of anger or dignity fell from Lord Phenex's face. All that was left was grief. This man, this demon who had lived long enough to father four children with his wife despite their race's abysmal birth rates, was no longer the noble Lord Phenex, but merely a father grieving for the loss of his son. "How could we have let it come to this?" he asked, his voice _barely_ holding up. "Your daughter should have been allowed her refusal. If I had known this would happen, I would have ended the agreement myself."

"Neither of us could have predicted this, old friend," Zeoticus said in an attempt at comfort.

"My colleague, Ajuka Beelzebub, will be investigating the Rating Game system and making changes where they're needed," said Sirzechs. "Though we cannot restore life to your son, Lord Phenex, I can promise you we shall do everything within our power to ensure nothing of this sort happens again."

"That is the best anyone can hope for," Lord Phenex said in agreement. "I apologise for my outburst. This is the first time I have ever known the grief of losing a child. I was not thinking straight. Zakaria Holland will come to no harm under my instructions, although I am afraid I cannot say the same for my other children. They loved their brother dearly. I will tell them not to do anything foolish, of course, but I cannot make promises for them."

"Then, we must hope they see sense in your words." Sirzechs looked between them. "Is it safe to say this matter between you is settled?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

"Then, I shall take my leave. Come, Grayfia." Sirzechs and Grayfia walked to a magic circle at one end of the room.

"I keep thinking it's somehow my fault," Lord Phenex said abruptly, stopping them in their tracks.

"Nonsense," Zeoticus waved him off. "It is no fault of anyone's. I doubt even young Mr Holland knew what the results of his actions would be."

"I know that, but …" Lord Phenex hesitated. "… I kept hoping Riser would lose," he finally admitted.

"What?"

"Riser was an arrogant boy. We all knew this. I hoped that he would lose and be forced to face the fact that even our Immortality and Hellfire abilities are not absolute. I would like to believe that, had he survived, he would have realised this and become a wiser combatant from it. I think that is why I was so angry before. I needed an outlet, anything to blame but myself. I fear I have brought shame to the House of Phenex with my outburst towards you."

"You did no such thing," said Sirzechs, turning back to them. "If I may speak to you as a demon rather than a Satan for a moment, Lord Phenex: I have a young son myself. I cannot even begin to imagine the grief you are going through. There is no shame in your noble demeanour lapsing during a time such as this." He turned to leave again. "Give my regards and my sympathy to your family, won't you? And Father, give Mother my love."

"Of course," said Zeoticus.

"Thank you," said Lord Phenex.

Sirzechs and Grayfia transported out in a flash of light.

* * *

Rias' Familia and Sona and Tsubaki were conversing quietly when Sirzechs and Grayfia returned. "Things appear to have smoothed over with the Phenex family," he told them all, giving Sona and Tsubaki a nod of greeting, assuming they had already been informed of the situation. "Though I would still tread carefully if I were you, Mr Holland. Not every member of the family may be as reasonable as Lord Phenex."

"I've been treading carefully for long enough that it's second nature at this point," said Zakaria. "Thank you, though, Lord Lucifer."

"There's no need to thank me. Maintaining peace in the underworld is part of my duties, after all."

"Do you have any idea what's going to happen to Riser's Familia?" Rias asked. It was just like a member of the Gremory family to be concerned about the servants.

It was a concern Sirzechs had evidently shared. "I asked, and apparently, Ravel Phenex plans to claim her Evil Pieces, something she has avoided doing up to this point, and take them on as her servants," he revealed.

"Ravel Phenex is his sister, right?" Issei asked. "The Bishop?"

"Yes, that's correct."

Rias put a hand to her chin in thought. "It could be that she's compassionate towards her fellow members of the Familia," she said. "Or it could be an indication that she plans to gain retribution. I would like to think it's the former, but only time will tell, I suppose."

"I suppose I'd better put in some more training, just in case," Zakaria said decisively. "Granted, I needed to, anyway. I've still got a long way to go in developing my abilities before I can function here as I'd like."

"I'm sure we'd all be happy to help with that," said Yuuto. Koneko nodded slightly in agreement.

"You and I can help each other," Akeno said alluringly. "I can help with your demonic power, and you can test my _flexibility_."

" _Damn, she's thirsty,_ " Issei muttered under his breath.

Zakaria, for his part, was more surprised that Sona seemed utterly unconcerned with Akeno's behaviour towards him. He figured that if anyone had a problem with the relationship Akeno was trying to initiate with him, it would be the student council president. Yet she didn't seem to care in the slightest. _Demons are just like that, I guess,_ he thought dismissively. _It looks like all the excitement for the day is over, so I think I'll just—_

That was when the door was practically ripped from its hinges.

"Zakky!" an unwelcome, familiar voice exclaimed from the doorway. "I saw the Rating Game and heard what happened to Riser from Sirzechs! I came to make sure you're okay!"

" _Satan, no_ ," both Zakaria and Sona whispered with pale faces.

_Wait, "Zakky?"_ Zakaria thought. _When the hell did she start calling me that?_

Into the room walked – who else? – Serafall Leviathan. "What you did in there was _awesomely_ brutal, Zakky!" she praised him when she laid her eyes on him. "I would have used more _magic_ myself, but you really knew how to pull out a win! Don't feel bad about killing Riser, though. It's not your fault!" A gasp escaped her lips as she laid eyes on another person of note, Sona, who was currently making her best impression of someone who _wasn't_ just trying to slip out through the door while her sister was distracted. " _Soooooooooooooonaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!_ "

"AH!" Sona released a startled yell as her sister-missile tackled her. "G-Get off me!" Her voice came out quiet and choked as she struggled to breathe, Serafall was hugging her so tightly.

"Nope!" Serafall chirped. "You always think you can escape my hugs, but not today, missy!"

_Thank you for taking a bullet for me, Sona,_ Zakaria thought, relieved and amused. That was until Serafall looked his way again, and they made eye contact. Her smile became a mischievous grin. _Oh no …_

Before Zakaria knew it, he had been pulled away from Akeno, who fell now that he was no longer within her grasp, and sandwiched between Serafall and her incredibly uncomfortable younger sister. "Hugging both of you at the same time is even better!" she cheered. "Ooh, we're so close together! Wouldn't it be fun if we took this to another room and turned this three-way hug into a three-way?"

"… She _is_ joking, right?" Zakaria asked, his voice muffled.

Sona's incredibly red face and refusal to look him in the eyes was all the answer he needed.

"She said she liked you, so I decided to tell her what happened," Sirzechs said to Zakaria, an amused twinkle in his eyes. "I figured she'd want to know. You can thank me later."

Zakaria managed to get an arm out of the demon-bundle he was in and flip Lucifer the bird.

Then the arm Zakaria stuck out to flip off Sirzechs was grabbed and he was yanked out of the demon-sandwich. He thought this might mean a chance of escape. He was wrong.

"I apologise, Lady Leviathan," said Akeno. Her voice was level and her tone polite, as usual, but there was a significant undercurrent of threat there. Her eyes were full of aggression. "But if anyone here is sneaking Zak off to another room so he can have his way with her, it'll be me."

"Wanna bet?" Serafall asked. Sona managed to wiggle away while her attention was on Akeno, and she made a run for it.

Tsubaki bowed politely and left after her.

"Well, I certainly didn't expect the day to end like this," said Yuuto.

"I wish girls would fight over me like that," Issei moped.

"If Asia is the jealous type, you might get your wish," said Koneko.

"Huh?"

"Because of President."

"What about her?"

"… You _dense_ motherfucker."

"Speaking of, we should get going soon," Rias spoke up. "I'm sure Asia is still waiting up on you, Issei."

"Holy shit, you're right!"

Sirzechs looked around the room and laughed to himself. "I think these kids will do just fine," he commented.

Grayfia silently agreed.

* * *

_Elsewhere in the underworld …_

A knock sounded at the door of his bed-chamber. "Enter," he said.

It was the doctor who had been attending the wounded from the Rating Game – right on time. "I have done as you instructed, Lord Bedeze," she said.

"So, Riser Phenex is dead?" asked Bedeze Abaddon.

"Yes, sir. I injected holy water into all of the vital veins, as well as directly into his heart. I was the one who declared his cause of death, so everybody thinks it was that reincarnated demon who killed him, just as you planned."

"Excellent."

Bedeze Abaddon went out of his way to look like it was expected noblemen should look like. He had blond hair and appeared to be in his mid-30s by human standards. His clothes were stereotypical noble attire – a black jacket with hose, leggings, and breeches. He walked over to the doctor, who was eagerly awaiting his approval. He touched her cheek gently. "You have done well." He cupped her other cheek with his free hand. "I thank you for your loyalty." Then he promptly _twisted_.

_Snap!_

The doctor crumpled to the ground like she was nothing more than a rag doll. Bedeze dismissively waved a hand in the direction of the body, and it vanished into some sort of portal in the floor. _That ties up the only loose end,_ he thought without a hint of regret for what he'd just done.

"Let's see how the reincarnated demons take this hit," he chuckled to himself. He hadn't cared about the Rating Game, merely watching out of curiosity since Riser Phenex was quickly rising through the ranks of the Rating Games and could have potentially reached a league high enough to make him a rival to Bedeze. He wanted to see what the potential future competition had to offer. Then that reincarnated filth had started using holy items to quickly, brutally, and efficiently dispatch all of Riser's Familia. A reincarnated demon doing such things to a pure-blooded demon sickened Bedeze to watch – the mongrels should know their place! But then, during Riser's beating near the end, the gears in Bedeze's head had started turning.

Were Riser Phenex to die, it would inevitably cause the old demons' opinions of the new reincarnated demons to lower. Bedeze himself would help to prompt this once word got around about what had happened. He would attack this Zakaria Holland publicly and use every connection he had to make it clear that reincarnated demons should _not_ be given any rights above their low-class station. The _murder_ – that's what he would call it – of a noble demon at the hands of a reincarnated demon would be his proof that they cannot be trusted to rise through the ranks of the underworld.

The removal of a potential future rival was merely a bonus.

* * *

Zakaria arrived back at his apartment via a magic circle. Ignisia was awaiting him.

"Did it work?" she asked excitedly. "Did the plan work?"

"Yes, it did," he confirmed, moving over to the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels and swigged directly from it. "Thanks for setting everything up for me." He decided not to tell her she had inadvertently helped him kill somebody, even if even he hadn't gone in there intending for it to happen. She didn't need that guilt on her shoulders. "It's been a long night. I'm heading straight to bed."

Ignisia wasn't stupid. She knew there was something he wasn't telling her. But, luckily for him, she didn't pry. She just went quiet for a few moments, then said, "I'll let you use my tits as a pillow tonight."

For once, he was glad of her company.


End file.
